Danny Williams J.D., MNO – Executive Director, The Free Clinic of Greater Cleveland

Dear Colleagues:

If the United States had true national health insurance, there might be no need for something called “The Free Clinic” – or the name might be redundant. But we don’t, and the 2010 legislation to expand access to health insurance instead is a partial patch on a ragged set of health care finance arrangements. The system of Community Health Centers, of which the Cleveland Free Clinic is a part, has been another patch, an effort to cover some of the most gaping holes in the fabric.

So how do these parts relate to each other? Will expansions of Medicaid and insurance through exchanges mean that The Free Clinic now gets paid for more of its services, so it can provide more and better care? Will need for its services be reduced, because many of its patients could afford to go elsewhere? Will The Free Clinic still be as necessary as ever, due to a shortage of other primary care for its clients? Will it meet ambitions that Community Health Centers will become primary care “medical homes?” Will it be able to take advantage of special funding made available to Community Health Centers as a result of the 2010 legislation? Join us as we discuss one of the less-noticed, but in our neighborhood most important, aspects of implementing “Obamacare.”

All best regards,
Joe White
Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy and Director, Center for Policy Studies

About Our Guest

Danny Williams J.D., MNO has held a wide array of major responsibilities for government and nonprofit organizations in Northeast Ohio. He has served the Free Clinic of Greater Cleveland since 2006. Previously he was Senior Vice President and General Counsel of The Greater Cleveland Partnership; CEO and President of the Greater Cleveland Roundtable; General Counsel and Major Metro Executive for the American Cancer Society, Ohio Division; Cuyahoga County Administrator; and Chief Law Director for the City of Cleveland. After graduating from Princeton and then the University of Michigan Law School, Mr. Williams continued his education while holding these management positions, including earning the Masters in Nonprofit Organizations from CWRU and completing degrees from the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government and UCLA’s Andersen School of Management. His professional career has been characterized by expertise in developing unconventional alliances to advance strategic goals; skill at managing and motivating human resources; creating effective diversity and inclusion initiatives; and building consensus among diverse stakeholders around organizational priorities.

Where We Meet

Mather House is located next to the Thwing student center two buildings to the right of Kelvin Smith Library on Euclid Avenue. Please enter the front door to Mather House and turn right. Mather House Room 100 is at the end of the hall.

Parking Possibilities

The most reliable parking is the lot underneath Severance Hall. We regret that it is not free. From that lot there is an elevator up to street level labeled as Thwing Center. Upon exiting there, visitors would walk around Thwing on their right, between Thwing and the new University Center. Follow that walkway, with the University Center on the left, and Mather House is the next building on your right. Continue past Mather House and then turn right to go down the walkway, between Mather House and the Church of the Covenant, to the Mather House entrance. It is sometimes possible to find closer parking in the lot for the Church of the Covenant, off Euclid. From that parking lot, walk west to get to Mather House.

October 24: An Update on the Search for an AIDS Vaccine. With Michael M. Lederman, Scott R. Inkley Professor of Medicine and Co-Director, CWRU/UHC Center for AIDS Research.

October 31: The Midterm Election. With Karen Beckwith, Flora Stone Mather Professor of Political Science, Justin Buchler, Associate Professor of Political Science; and Andrew Lucker, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Political Science. ***Alternative Venue: LL06 B & C at Kelvin Smith Library***

November 7: ROTC Returns to Campus. With Lt. Colonel Donald Hazelwood, Northeast Ohio ROTC Commander and Professor of Military Science, John Carroll University. ***Alternative Venue: Mather House Room 100***

November 14: Perspectives on Human Subjects Research Requirements. With Suzanne Rivera Ph.D., M.S.W., Associate Vice President for Research and Assistant Professor of Bioethics. ***Alternative Venue: LL06 B & C at Kelvin Smith Library***

November 21: Local Government in an Age of Austerity. With David B. Miller, Associate Professor in the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences and Council President, City of South Euclid.

November 28: Thanksgiving Break

December 5: Godless Democrats and Pious Republicans: Party Activists and the Mythical God Gulf. With Ryan Claassen, Associate Professor of Political Science, Kent State University.