Dr. Delos M. "Toby" Cosgrove, internationally renowned heart surgeon who serves as president and CEO of the Cleveland Clinic, launched the Symphony Park Lecture Series as its inaugural speaker.  More than 150 guests attended the lecture on Sept. 23 at the Fifth Street School to learn more about Cleveland Clinic's unique model of care that President Obama has touted as one of the best to deliver true change to our country's healthcare system.  Dr. Cosgrove, who has performed more than 22,000 procedures during his career and has filed more than 30 medical and clinical product patents, has overseen the Cleveland Clinic and its 40,000 employees since 2004.

Cosgrove cited three tenets of cost-effective, high-quality health care:  efficiency, individual responsibility and measuring quality, which includes transparent reporting of hospital procedure outcomes.  Cleveland Clinic has been a leader in measuring quality and making results public and even offers patients access to their own medical records via a secured Web site. Dr. Cosgrove also stressed the importance of individual responsibility citing the high incidence of chronic diseases linked to smoking, poor food choices and inactivity, as well as the high cost of treating diseases and conditions resulting from these behaviors.

The Symphony Park Lectures Series is a quarterly program to engage the local community in compelling and pertinent topics germane to Symphony Park, its anchor projects and other quality of life issues in Las Vegas. The next lecture is scheduled for February 2010 and will focus on the arts. Additional information is forthcoming once details are confirmed.