JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Medical education innovator Dr. David Lenihan has filed his candidacy for State Senate in District 1. Dr. Lenihan, a resident of Oakville in South St. Louis County, is the CEO of Tiber Health, a global network of health science universities with over 450 employees. Tiber Health has begun the process to open an $82 million medical school bringing 483 permanent jobs to St. Louis.
“I am running for the State Senate to continue my dedication to improving the St. Louis region. We can and must do better in the areas of healthcare, education, jobs and crime if we are to advance this region and compete with larger cities for the jobs of tomorrow and future economic development,” said Lenihan
Dr. Lenihan has overcome obstacles throughout his entire life by turning them into opportunities. He is a proven problem solver who has never backed down from a challenge. At a young age, David had a spinal injury that threatened to ruin his life. He took this challenge and decided to pursue medicine, working hard to pay for his own education at Palmer College of Chiropractic. He went on to earn his Ph.D in Peripheral Neuroscience from the University of Edinburgh where he was also a peripheral nerve surgical fellow, working long hours while he and his wife raised two sons. He then got an MBA from the University of Cambridge Judge School of Business.
At Ponce Health Sciences University, Dr. Lenihan searches for students like himself – fighters, hard workers, and those who have overcome obstacles looking for an opportunity to better themselves and community. Put simply, he uses data modeling to open up possibilities for lower-income students and considers character over grades to decide students’ eligibility.
“Many of the students at Ponce do not have the highest admission test scores, or they were turned away from other medical schools. Using our patented and highly-innovative approach to teaching with predictive algorithms, we have been able to track and uncover student insights to consistently monitor and personalize each student’s education,” said Lenihan.
Lenihan believes he can apply these techniques to the K-12 classroom. Through his medical schools, he was able to improve student outcomes through innovation in the classroom while spending less money to do so. David will take on the establishment bureaucrats and build school systems around students and teachers, not bureaucrats.
“We should be reforming the education system to better prepare students for the workplace rather than only preparing them for the next test,” said Lenihan.
Dr. Lenihan is a respected thought-leader in the global medical education and technology community. His company trains doctors to lower costs and improve access in many communities. Socialized medicine almost cost the life of Dr. Lenihan’s son while living in Scotland where they had a single-payer health system. Dr. Lenihan agrees with Republicans that Obamacare has not worked and is tired of the finger pointing and blame games. “We owe it to our community to come up with a solid Missouri solution for our families. The state cannot wait for partisan gridlock to break in Washington, D.C. to find solutions to affordable health care for Missourians,” said Lenihan.
As an entrepreneur Dr. Lenihan understands what it takes to grow and build a business. He will fight to remove the impediments of over regulation, over taxation, and frivolous lawsuits to help the St. Louis region and Missouri recruit and retain more high-paying jobs. He will attract new companies and industries to Missouri by supporting workforce development plans that emphasize training and retraining in high-demand industries. These plans place a greater emphasis on community colleges, technical schools, and vocational education so we have a workforce ready for the jobs of tomorrow.
Dr. Lenihan believes there is a correlation between lack of jobs, crime, drug addiction and mental health. The current justice system does not do an adequate job of addressing these issues primarily because there are not enough physicians in the area. Additionally, Missouri is over 500 hospital beds short of meeting the basic mental health needs in our state. He is bringing one of the largest psychiatric residency programs in the country to St. Louis while simultaneously building a 100-bed psychiatric center in St. Louis City.
“I am not only focused on giving law enforcement the tools they need to do their job, I am also focused on addressing the root cause of the rising crime problem in our region. We need to give law enforcement the much-needed resources to protect our communities and families. In a rush to give criminals rights we have voided victims’ rights and that balance must be restored,” said Lenihan.
David’s family has deep roots in the South St. Louis County community. He married Karen Ahlemeyer, a graduate of Oakville High School, whose family has been active in our community including helping found Queen of All Saints School. David and Karen have two sons: Sean, who is at Rockhurst College, and Connor, who attends the Royal College of Surgeons.
