Mark Hayes Honored with Zellmer Lecture Award

Mark L. Hayes, J.D., R.Ph., Senior Vice President, Federal Policy and Advocacy for Ascension, will present the eighth annual William A. Zellmer Lecture on September 26, 2017, as part of ASHP’s Policy Week activities. ASHP, which represents pharmacists who serve as patient care providers in acute and ambulatory settings, holds this event each year as part of its policy development and advocacy activities.

A lawyer and pharmacist with more than 25 years of federal and private sector health law and policy experience, Mr. Hayes has played a leading role in the development and enactment of healthcare policy and legislation in Washington. He served on the staff of four U.S. Senators (Sens. Charles Grassley, Christopher Bond, Olympia Snowe, and James Jeffords) and served for more than seven years as Health Policy Director and Chief Health Counsel for the Senate Finance Committee Republican staff.

Mr. Hayes led the policy development, legislative drafting, and negotiations on the healthcare provisions of several major pieces of federal legislation, including the Affordable Care Act, the Medicare Advantage and Part D prescription drug benefit provisions of the Medicare Modernization Act, the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act, the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act, the Deficit Reduction Act, and the administrative simplification provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

In addition to his experience on the Hill, Mr. Hayes represented numerous clients at the federal level, including hospital systems, managed care plans, healthcare corporations, pharmacies, healthcare trade associations, and coalitions. He was a Shareholder at Greenberg Traurig, Assistant Director for Federal Government Affairs for Hoffman-La Roche, and worked for former U.S. Senator Jack Danforth as Vice President of St. Louis 2004, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reviving the St. Louis region.

Mr. Hayes received a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from the University of Missouri in Kansas City, a Juris Doctor from the Washington College of Law at American University, and completed the ASHP Executive Residency in Association Management.

ASHP established the William A. Zellmer Lecture in 2010 in collaboration with the ASHP Research and Education Foundation. The award honors Zellmer’s contributions to policy development, advocacy, planning, and communications during his career with ASHP. The lecture is given annually during ASHP Policy Week by a distinguished individual who has demonstrated exceptional leadership in advancing healthcare-related public policy that has improved the safety and effectiveness of medication use through the engagement of pharmacists.

About ASHP

ASHP represents pharmacists who serve as patient care providers in acute and ambulatory settings. The organization’s more than 43,000 members include pharmacists, student pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians. For 75 years, ASHP has been at the forefront of efforts to improve medication use and enhance patient safety. For more information about the wide array of ASHP activities and the many ways in which pharmacists advance healthcare, visit ASHP’s website, www.ashp.org, or its consumer website, www.SafeMedication.com.