Bill Frist, M.D

05/25/2026

Memorial Day asks something important of us.

It asks us to pause long enough to remember that the freedoms we enjoy were secured by men and women whose sacrifice, as President Truman once said, created a debt “that can never be repaid.”

In 2006, I reflected on that debt on the Senate floor. I spoke then of the first national Memorial Day observance in 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. More than a century and a half later, that simple act of remembrance still carries profound meaning.

We remember those who did their duty in the face of fear. We honor those who gave their lives in service to our country. And we recommit ourselves to living with the gratitude, humility, and responsibility their sacrifice demands.

America must never forget.

05/24/2026

A few weeks from now, Tracy and I will welcome the Southeastern Grasslands Institute and a group of biodiversity experts to The Farm at Sinking Creek for a BioBlitz.

For us this is part of a longer story of continuing our care of this land. Several years ago, we worked with SGI on a biodiversity survey that helped us understand more clearly what lives here. This next initiative will help us continue documenting the plants, animals, fungi, lichens, grasses, and living systems that make Sinking Creek so special.

As a doctor, I think often about vital signs. Biodiversity is one of nature’s vital signs. It tells us something important about the health of the land, and ultimately, about the health of the water, soil, food systems, and communities connected to it.

The first step is simple: look closer. Stay tuned for more from our BioBlitz at Sinking Creek.

05/23/2026

This week, my good friend Senator Lamar Alexander’s new memoir, The Education of a Senator: From JFK to Trump, is available online and in bookstores.

Lamar has lived a remarkable life in public service: governor of Tennessee, U.S. secretary of education, president of the University of Tennessee, and United States senator. What has always stood out to me is not the offices he held, but the values he carried into every one of them—the lessons of his hometown of Maryville, Tennessee: independence, humility, hard work, curiosity, and a deep belief that public service is one of the most meaningful ways to help people.

I'm especially moved that he included a story from 1994, when I was leaving the operating room to run for the Senate. I told Lamar then that as a transplant surgeon, I might save one life at a time—but as a senator, perhaps I could help save many more. That conviction has anchored everything I've done in public life since.

Lamar’s book is a timely reminder that politics, at its best, is not about noise or division. It is about service. Problem-solving. And the rare, powerful opportunity to help people at a scale few other callings allow.

Congratulations, Lamar, on this important and deeply personal memoir. I look forward to seeing it in the hands of readers across Tennessee and across the country.

First photo credit: Wes Hope, Maryville College

05/21/2026

Myth: “Forest loss is mainly a wildlife issue.”
Truth: It is a human health issue.

Forests are health infrastructure.

They cool our communities. They clean our air. They protect our water. They stabilize rainfall. They support food security.

In the U.S. alone, about 180 million people rely on forested lands to help capture and filter drinking water. But globally, we are still losing roughly 10.9 million hectares of forest each year.

When forests disappear, the damage shows up in people’s lives:
More heat illness. More respiratory disease. More food and water insecurity. More displacement. More pressure on families and communities already stretched thin.

As a physician, my diagnosis is clear: protecting forests is not just conservation.
It is prevention.

Prescription: Protect and restore forests.

Which myth should I tackle next? Let me know in the comments.

05/20/2026

Last night, I had the opportunity to host members of our FCV Collective for a special after-hours tour of the U.S. Capitol.

There is something different about walking those halls after the crowds have gone. The Capitol feels quieter, but somehow even more alive with history. More than two centuries of debate, disagreement, compromise, sacrifice, and public service are embedded in those rooms. I never take that for granted.

What made the evening especially meaningful was the group I was with. The FCV Collective brings together talented health care leaders—founders, operators, and innovators—who are helping shape the future of medicine.

At Frist Cressey Ventures, we believe real progress in health care happens where innovation, policy, and leadership intersect. A strong idea matters. A great product matters. But lasting change also requires understanding people, institutions, history, and the policy levers that determine how health care actually works.

To share that space with this group and talk about how decisions are made, how institutions evolve, and why all of it matters to patients and communities felt like exactly the right conversation to be having.

A memorable evening with an outstanding group of leaders.

05/19/2026

05/19/2026

In medicine, we often talk about upstream determinants of health: the social, environmental, and economic conditions that shape whether people get sick before they ever see a doctor.

Few determinants sit further upstream than water.

Cape Town, South Africa’s 2018 water crisis is often remembered as a story about drought. But it is also a story about natural systems, and what happens when those systems are degraded.

Clean water does not begin at the tap. It begins in watersheds, landscapes, soils, plants, and the natural infrastructure that captures, filters, stores, and delivers it.

As a physician, I spent decades focused on what happens inside the body. I have come to understand that protecting human health requires protecting the systems that sustain it.

That is why watershed restoration is public health work.

Nature is not a backdrop to public health. It is the foundation.

I wrote more about this in my latest Substack: https://tr.ee/FYHMJdMUDa

05/19/2026

During the Blue Ridge Land Conservancy celebration, Tracy and I were deeply touched by a very special gift.

Nan Mahone Wellborn presented us with a beautiful painting of The Farm at Sinking Creek, our farm in Southwest Virginia. The scene captured looks northwest toward the historic county poorhouse and barns, a view rooted in place, history, and memory.

What moved us most was the care evident in every part of Nan's painting. That same spirit of care is what Tracy and I aspire to bring to conservation at Sinking Creek and beyond: careful attention to the land, respect for its history, and a deep responsibility to steward it well for the future.

Thank you, Nan, for your kindness, your talent, and this meaningful gift. We will treasure this piece and are grateful for the way you captured a place so special to us.

05/18/2026

Tracy and I were delighted to join a packed house of nearly 250 people for the Blue Ridge Land Conservancy’s 30th anniversary celebration yesterday.

Together, we shared a simple but deeply personal message: starting locally, working together, and telling one story at a time, we can see regional impact translate into global reach, all by reconnecting nature with the well-being of people.

That story begins for us at The Farm at Sinking Creek in Craig County. For Tracy, this region is home. For both of us, it is a living reminder that conservation begins in the places we know and love most.

It was wonderful to see Dr. Rupert Cutler honored for his many years of service to conservation and public life in Southwest Virginia and beyond. We were also glad to be joined by Bettina Ring, who leads The Nature Conservancy Virginia, Bob Fetzer of Building Specialists, and many other friends who care deeply about conservation in this region.

A wonderful evening celebrating conservation, community, and the enduring importance of place.