Longtime health industry leader Sandy Lutz, who was managing director of the Health Research Institute of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Dallas, died Sunday after a long illness.
Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Friday at St. Stephen United Methodist Church, 1800 W. Randoll Mill Road, Arlington.
Lutz, 57, a member of D Healthcare Daily’s advisory board, had 20 years of experience in healthcare consulting and writing. A graduate of the University of Nebraska, she joined PwC in 1998 after serving as a healthcare analyst at Rauscher Pierce Refsnes, a Dallas-based investment bank. She was the Dallas bureau chief for Modern Healthcare magazine from 1986-1996, wrote four books, and was a columnist for the American Journal of Healthcare Management.
In 2009, she was named Affordability Hero of the Year for the DFW Alliance for Medical Excellence for her work to cover uninsured children. She had been co-chair of the Tarrant County CHIP Coalition since 2008,
“Thousands of needy Texans who will never know her name lost a great friend and champion with the death of Sandy Lutz,” said Camille Miller, president and chief executive officer of Austin-based Texas Health Institute. “I have had the joy and absolute delight to work with Sandy for many years on health issues as a PwC employee, as a volunteer advocate and as a friend. She is already sorely missed.”
Benjamin Isgur, HRI director called Lutz a leader and a friend. “She was professional and a mentor in the way she carried herself and lived her life,” he said. “She was the consummate family person and community minded. She was one of the first ones to promote research-based thought leadership in the health-care industry.”
Lutz was chair of the Dallas-Fort Worth Health Industry Council from January 2009-2010. Nancy Williams, former council president, said Lutz “was the epitome of what it was to be in charge and had the respect of everyone. She had the board put together a new focus on what was of value, and whether we could do it. She brought broad knowledge to the council and that was what was so valuable.”
Visitation will be 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday at Moore Chapel, 1219 N. Davis Drive, Arlington.
Steve Jacob is editor of D Healthcare Daily and author of Health Care in 2020: Where Uncertain Reform, Bad Habits, Too Few Doctors and Skyrocketing Costs Are Taking Us. He can be reached at [email protected].
