For release: March 9, 2009 |
Media Contact: Heidi Press (248) 858-6662 or |
ST. JOSEPH MERCY OAKLAND TO FOCUS ON UNINSURED
AT FREE COMMUNITY PROGRAM
Cover the Uninsured Week Event Looks at Need for Change
in Health Care Delivery
Pontiac, Mich.—St. Joseph Mercy Oakland (SJMO) will host a free, public, informational town hall meeting about the issue of covering the uninsured and what the public can do to help at 4:30 p.m. Monday, March 23, 2009. The event will take place in the hospital’s Franco Communications Center, 44405 Woodward Ave., Pontiac.
Nearly 50 million people across the U.S. are uninsured, about 10 million of them children. In Michigan, more than 1.2 million people, 100,000 of them children, are uninsured, according to the latest figures from the Michigan Department of Community Health. But as the economy plunges and more people are losing their jobs and health care, the numbers of uninsured people are increasing at a dramatic rate.
Coordinated by the SJMO Community Programs Department, the town hall event will take place during national Cover the Uninsured Week, March 22-28, 2009. A project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Cover the Uninsured Week is a national effort to highlight the fact “that too many Americans are living without health insurance and demand solutions from our nation’s leaders.”
In response, the SJMO event will bring together a panel of community representatives to discuss the issue and recommend solutions. Panelists include:
•State Rep. Tim Melton (D-Pontiac)
•Oakland County Commissioner Mattie Hatchett
•Brian Harris, executive director, Gary Burnstein Community Health Clinic, Pontiac
•Leona Patterson, community activist
•David Coleman, Pontiac business owner, and
•Erma Christy, Mercy Place patient who is uninsured.
Moderating the panel will be radio personality Frankie Darcell of WMXD-92.3 FM.
Panelists will be asked to respond to questions about the impact of lack of health care insurance in their communities, what they’re doing about it and the role the public can take.
SJMO Community Health Promoter Lisa Braddix will speak about the Find A Way Campaign, conducted by SJMO’s parent organization, Trinity Health, which has embarked on a special effort to bring awareness about the need for health care reform to elected officials.
Information about Find A Way and Covered the Uninsured Week will be available to guests.
Light refreshments will follow the program. The public is invited free of charge, and free parking is available.
St Joseph Mercy Oakland is a 443-bed comprehensive, community, teaching hospital and a long-time leader in health care in Oakland County. Founded in 1927 by the Sisters of Mercy, St. Joseph Mercy Oakland has won numerous local and national awards for patient safety, quality and performance, and consistently ranks in the top 10 percent of hospitals nationwide. A member of the Saint Joseph Mercy Health System, St Joseph Mercy Oakland is a technologically leading hospital that combines advanced medicine and personal care to assist patients on their path to wellness. With dedicated physicians, nurses and hospital staff committed to providing quality care throughout the patient stay, St Joseph Mercy Oakland has truly personalized the patient experience.