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LOS ANGELES, CA – Last Saturday (October 13, 2012), Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU) in partnership with the National Medical Association (NMA) Region VI, the Minority Health Institute (MHI) and and Charles R. Drew Medical Society hosted a town hall meeting on health care reform in Los Angeles County. Over 80 community providers, health care advocates, health professions students and other members of the general public were in attendance at this educational event on the campus of CDU, the only dually-designated Historically Black Graduate Institution and Hispanic Serving Health Professions School in the U.S.
“This was a town hall meeting in the truest sense of the term with a mixture of people of various ages, ethnicities, and from a diversity of professions as well as different economic statuses,” said Dr. Richard Allen Williams, Chair of NMA Region VI and President and CEO of the Minority Health Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to public and professional health education.
The keynote speaker was Kim Belshé, Former Secretary of Health and Human Services Agency Secretary and newly appointed Executive Director of First 5 Los Angeles. As one of the five-members on the board of the state's new Health Benefit Exchange, she discussed this centerpiece of the Affordable Care Act, the nation’s federal health care reform, which will create a new marketplace for consumers and small businesses to shop for health insurance, starting in 2014. Belshé stressed the role of maximizing enrollment for populations that are demographically diverse and underserved by encompassing and learning from the work of community providers and engaging people where they live, work, play.
Each panelist addressed the specific aspect of health care reform. Wendy Schiffer, Director of Planning, Evaluation, and Development for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health highlighted the Prevention and Public Health Fund Community Transformation Grant, $9.8 million for LA County which supports Tobacco free living, active living, healthy eating, high impact clinical preventive services, social and emotional wellness and healthy and safe physical environments.
Lark Galloway-Gilliam, Executive Director, Community Health Councils, Inc, a community-based health promotion organization, outlined the effects on South Los Angeles and encouraged enrollment in the Healthy Way LA program. In South Los Angeles, 2 out of 5 residents are currently on Medi-Cal and more than 60% will get coverage through Medicaid due to the increase in eligibility for the program (133% FPL). And while one in five will be able to buy coverage in the Exchange, one in five residents will still have no insurance, which will have serious implications for the safety net.
Other presentations included Dr. Sylvia Carlisle, Medical Director of Anthem Blue Cross and Dr. Hector Flores, Medical Director of the Family Care Specialists Medical Group. Dr. David M. Carlisle, CDU President and CEO, served as the event moderator.
“Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science is proud to serve as a hub for discussion, collaboration and implementation of health care reform for those who need it most,” said Dr. Carlisle. “We believe it is best to involve everyone in the conversation and raise awareness as this historic health care reform is actualized in Los Angeles.”
“It is my hope that this seminal meeting serves as a template for future forums on the vital subject of improving, changing, and reforming our healthcare," said Dr. Williams.
**FOR INTERVIEWS OR MORE INFORMATION ON ANY PRESENTATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Jessica Gelzer, jgelzer@griffinschein.com, 323-892-2080 or 818-399-4088**
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About Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science
CDU is a private, nonprofit, nonsectarian, minority-serving medical and health sciences institution. Located in the Watts-Willowbrook area of South Los Angeles, CDU has graduated more than 550 medical doctors, 2,500 post-graduate physicians, more than 2,000 physician assistants and hundreds of other health professionals. The only dually designated Historically Black Graduate Institution and Hispanic Serving Health Professions School in the U.S., CDU is recognized as a leader in translational and health inequities research, specifically with respect to heart disease, diabetes, cancer, mental health, and HIV/AIDS. Recently, the CDU/UCLA medical program was named the “best performer” in the University of California System with respect to producing outstanding underrepresented minority physicians by the Greenlining Institute. For more information, visit
http://www.cdrewu.edu/
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