Jim Mitchell Biography

Much of the Affordable Care Act's text had been studied, hotly discussed, and routinely broadcast on 24-hour news cycles by the time it was signed into law in March 2010. However, one component of the law was almost completely disregarded. Indeed, a critical provision to cover college students may not have made it into the final law if it hadn't been for Jim Mitchell, director of MSU's Student Health Service's tenacity. Mitchell did not achieve his goal of ensuring that college student health plans are properly recognized inside the Affordable Care Act in front of a dramatic background of gavels banging intense congressional hearing chambers. Rather, Mitchell's work was accomplished over months of painstaking research, collaboration, and frequent conference calls, culminating in a meeting in Washington, D.C., where Mitchell and two colleagues from other universities met with staff members from the Senate Finance Committee, the committee in charge of hammering out the bill's details. Mitchell remembers the Senate Finance Committee's staff quarters as congested, claustrophobic, and overflowing with documents. It was orderly pandemonium. We were in their break room at the time. Mitchell was most struck by how eager the bill drafters were to hear from him during his lobbying engagement. Mitchell, a previous president of the American College Health Association, was instrumental in the formation of the Lookout Mountain Group in 2009, an organization created by him and many of his college health colleagues to research the impact of healthcare reform on college students. The organization has gathered information and written position papers on the implications of different federal and state healthcare reform models on college health programs and student health insurance. Mitchell has been mentioned often in the media as the organization's spokeswoman, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Chicago Tribune. He helped establish health facilities and worked on the formulation of a regional public health strategy while volunteering in Africa. Mitchell returned to UVA and worked for the university's student health program when he returned to the United States. He returned to the Rocky Mountain West (he was reared in Colorado) after 15 years with UVA and began his career with MSU. His main goal as the director of MSU's college health program is to provide efficient and high-quality services to students in the university's nationally certified health center. Mitchell is also a member of a local emergency preparedness group, which meets on a monthly basis and comprises public health professionals from both Bozeman and Gallatin County. His participation guarantees that MSU is a member of a strong emergency response team that deals with everything from H1N1 flu epidemics to bioterrorism threats. Another important aspect of his job is providing kids with health and self-care information, education, and assistance. Many college students, according to Mitchell, are going through a period of self-discovery, experimenting with anything from drinking to their own sexuality. Mitchell thanks the 45 exceptional experts who work with him in assisting him in completing this task—as well as assisting him in remaining cool and worry-free in the face of virulent flu strains and other student health problems. The chance to spend his days surrounded by young people is the most exciting element of Mitchell's profession, and the reason he is excited about a 35-year career.

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