The Nashville Health Care Council, which represents the city's 250 healthcare companies, is launching a fellowship program in partnership with some of the city's largest for-profit hospital chains and Vanderbilt University.

The leadership program is for executives already serving—or being groomed to serve—in the C-suite of local companies. To participate, they must work for an organization that is a member of the council.

Dr. Bill Frist, the former Senate majority leader, will co-direct the program with Larry Van Horn, an associate professor of healthcare management and economics at Vanderbilt's Owen Graduate School of Management.

Between 20 to 30 fellows will participate in the inaugural class, taking part in eight daylong sessions over the spring and summer of 2013. Applications are due Dec. 21, and fellows will be announced in early January.

The program will focus on topics such as building leadership skills and creating value in healthcare, according to Van Horn, who spoke at a news conference to unveil the initiative. Sessions will include case studies as well as “immersion” within local healthcare companies.

“We will hopefully put in place a structure to preserve the Nashville legacy,” he said.

The Nashville area is a de facto headquarters for the for-profit hospital industry, and is home to 16 public healthcare companies. HCA, Nashville; Community Health Systems, Franklin, Tenn., and LifePoint Hospitals, Brentwood, Tenn., are sponsoring the program with Healthways, Franklin, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Tennessee, Chattanooga.

At the news conference, Frist called the fellowship program “a uniquely Nashville approach” and “a defining moment for our city.”

“We’re about action, we’re about energy, we’re about making it real,” he said.

Caroline Young, president of the council, noted that the program could one day be expanded to companies outside Nashville to help promote further interest in the city.