Oliver Fein, MD

President, Physicians for a National Health Program

Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow

Past Vice President of the American Public Health Association    

All three events are FREE and open to the public

For more information, call (256) 489-3884, e-mail lahaynes@knology.net  or online www.NorthAlabamaHealthcareForAll.org      

1)  Friday, Feb. 26,  6:00 p.m.

“Healthcare Reform 2010: Where Do We Go From Here?” Physicians understand the urgent need for healthcare reform — for the good of patients, the profession and the U.S. economy. However, according to Dr. Fein, the present legislation in Congress is not going far enough AND is headed in the wrong direction. This talk, by a leading advocate of an expanded and improved Medicare for All (single payer) program, will describe what’s really happening with our healthcare system and where we need to go from here to reach universal, high quality coverage at an affordable cost for all. Audience Q&A will follow.   The presentation will include updates and responses to President Obama’s healthcare summit to be held in Washington, DC, on the day prior to this event.   

Speaker:   Oliver Fein, MD, president, Physicians for a National Health Program, www.pnhp.org  (New York, NY)

Location:  Shelby Center for Science and Technology, UA Huntsville Campus. Room 107 Auditorium. (near intersection of Sparkman Drive and Lakeside  http://www.uah.edu/map/color_map.pdf )

Co-sponsors:  UA Huntsville Political Science Department and Alabama A&M University Political Science Department  

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2)  Saturday, Feb. 27, 10 – 11:30 a.m.

“Healthcare Justice: The Moral Imperative for Universal Healthcare from a Christian Perspective”

This event offers an overview of problems with the healthcare system, the status of reform legislation, and an affordable solution aimed at just and equitable healthcare for all. We begin by laying out an ethical framework for the discussion. Speakers then address various aspects of healthcare justice and the moral imperative they see as central to the Christian perspective. Audience Q&A will follow.   

Location:  Faith Presbyterian Church, 5003 Whitesburg Drive, Huntsville. Fellowship Hall. (at intersection of Airport and Whitesburg)    

Speakers: 

+  Oliver Fein, MD, president, Physicians for a National Health Program (New York, NY)

+  Arthur Sutherland, MD, board member, Tennessee Health Care Campaign, and national board member of PNHP (Memphis, TN)

+  Abi Carlisle-Wilke, M.Div., Senior Associate Pastor, Trinity United Methodist Church (Huntsville, AL).  

Moderator:  Rev. Frank Broyles, Interfaith Mission Service  

Supported by:  Interfaith Mission Service;  Indian Creek Primitive Baptist Association;  Greater Huntsville Interdenominational Ministerial Fellowship.   Coffee, fruit and pastries will be available.  

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3)  Saturday, Feb. 27, 1 – 3 p.m.

“Point / Counterpoint: Fixing the American Health System” Physicians from opposite ends of the policy spectrum will present their solutions to our health care crisis. Dr. Oliver Fein, president of PNHP, will present the case for expanding and improving Medicare to all. Dr. Allan Goldstein, Alabama delegate to the American Medical Association, will focus on quality of healthcare as a way to reduce costs, and the reforms necessary to reach that goal. Audience Q&A will follow.     

Location: Crestwood Medical Center, One Hospital Drive, Huntsville. First floor auditorium.  (near intersection of Airport and Whitesburg)   

Speakers: 

+  Oliver Fein, MD, president, Physicians for a National Health Program  (New York, NY)

+  Allan Goldstein, MD, past president, Medical Society of the State of Alabama; current delegate to the American Medical Association representing Alabama. (Birmingham, AL)    

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Speaker Biographies:  

Oliver T. Fein, MD  (New York, NY) Dr. Fein is president of Physician for a National Health Program, a nonprofit organization of over 17,000 physicians who support single-payer national health insurance. He is a general internist who is active in clinical practice, he is also professor of clinical medicine and clinical public health at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, where he serves as associate dean responsible for the Office of Affiliations and the Office of Global Health Education. Dr. Fein has advocated for an expanded role for primary care, for academic health centers in urban health care delivery systems, and for national health system reform. He was Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow during 1993-1994, when he worked in the office of Senate Democratic Majority Leader George Mitchell. He spent 17 years at the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center developing community-based ambulatory care practices and the Division of General Medicine. He is chair of the New York State Chapter of PNHP and immediate past vice president of the American Public Health Association. Dr. Fein received the Elnora M. Rhodes Service award from the Society of General Internal Medicine in 1999; the Haven Emerson Award from the Public Health Association of New York City in 2001; and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellowships Program in 2008.    

Allan R. Goldstein, MD  (Birmingham, AL) Dr. Goldstein is a native of Cleveland, Ohio, and a graduate of “The” Ohio State University School of Medicine. He has been in practice since 1972 and is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Pulmonary Diseases. He continues to have an active practice and serves as both a Primary Care Physician and a Consultant. He has been involved in organized medicine for over 30 years. He has served on the Board of the Jefferson County Medical Society and has been its President. He has served on the Board of Censors of The Medical Association of the State of Alabama, been a member of both the Board of Medical Examiners and the State Committee of Public Health and has been the President of The Medical Association of the State of Alabama. Presently, he is a Delegate to the AMA , representing Alabama. He is a patient advocate and supports quality and efficient care initiatives that will lead to reduced cost by decreasing the need for unscheduled visits, Emergency Department visits and hospitalization. He is a strong advocate for the patient-doctor relationship and for patient focused care.    

Arthur J. Sutherland III, MD, FACC  (Memphis, TN) Dr. Sutherland is a retired physician and founder of the Sutherland Cardiology Clinic. He currently works with The Healthy Memphis Common Table which is addressing the obesity and diabetes epidemics in Memphis and the Mid-South. Improving health literacy and elimination of social and health related disparities are high priority agenda issues. Dr. Sutherland is also a member of the Memphis School of Servant Leadership and works with the Memphis Theological Seminary in its urban ministry program. He is currently serving as chairman of the Tennessee chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program and is on the national PNHP Board of Directors. In addition, he is on the state Board of Directors for the Tennessee Health Care Campaign. Both PNHP and THCC have been working for health care justice for over 20 years.      

Abi Carlisle-Wilke, M.Div.  (Huntsville, AL) Abi Carlisle-Wilke is the Senior Associate Pastor at Trinity United Methodist Church in Huntsville, AL. She earned her Master of Divinity degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1978. Her studies also include training in Clinical Pastoral Education beginning with The University of Louisville Health Sciences System, Louisville, KY and then at Carraway Methodist Medical Center in Birmingham, AL.  She has served as Chaplain/Pastoral Counselor for Brookwood Medical Center, South Highland Hospital, and Carraway Methodist Medical Center in Birmingham, AL; and then for the Pastoral Institute/Bradley Center in Columbus, GA.    

Frank Broyles, M.Div   (Huntsville, AL) Reverand Frank Broyles currently serves as Minister of Church and Community with the Faith Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama. He also serves as Executive Minister of the Huntsville Association for Pastoral Care (HAPC); Program Director of the Area Chapter of the National Conference For Community and Justice; and Senior Program Specialist for the Interfaith Mission Service. He served as the first Administrative Director of Hospice of Huntsville; for fifteen years as Director of the Campus Ministry Association at UAH; and for twelve years as Adjunct Instructor at the School of Theology at the University of the South. He earned his B.A. from Rhodes College (Southwestern at Memphis) and his Master of Divinity from Vanderbilt Divinity School. He carried out post-graduate non-degree studies at Sewanee’s School of Theology. Rev. Broyles’ commitment to ecumenical and interfaith understanding has been significant and lasting. He has received close to 30 awards and recognitions for community service in inter-agency, ecumenical, and interfaith work.     

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I wanted to thank everyone who came out for the healthcare rally this past Saturday morning to protest the TEA party folks across the street (corner of Memorial Parkway and Governors Drive). Wish I could have been there to join you … it was obviously in great hands with those who did coordinate and participate!

Special thanks go to:
+ Charles King – who stepped up to coordinate this event and gave great quotes about Medicare for All which appeared on the Channel 19 and Channel 48 newscasts.
+ Tom Moss — for photos of the event and his quote that appeared in the Huntsville Times article.
+ Jerry Burnett — for photos of the event (see links below to all the photos)
+ Esther Davis — for her quote appearing in the Huntsville Times article.
+ Barb Adle — for her quote in the Channel 48 newscast

LINKS TO OUR PHOTOS:

+ FACEBOOK http://www.facebook.com/NorthAlabamaHealthcareForAll?v=photos#/album.php?aid=163735&id=159504394739

+ YAHOO GROUP PAGE http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NorthAlabamaHealthcareForAll/photos/album/118682654/pic/list

IN THE MEDIA:

Huntsville Times article http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/local.ssf?/base/news/125888496798620.xml&coll=1

Channel 19 — has two segments on the healthcare rallies http://www.whnt.com/
Scroll down to TOP VIDEOS and select “Huntsvillians Debate Healthare Bill” and “Huntsville Healthcare Debate”

Channel 48 — “Local groups rally in anticipation of key Senate health care vote”
http://www.waff.com/global/Category.asp?C=151146&clipId=&topVideoCatNo=15046&topVideoCatNoB=105966&topVideoCatNoC=105977&topVideoCatNoD=110674&topVideoCatNoE=109699&clipId=4323408&topVideoCatNo=15046&autoStart=true

Beautiful job, everyone, for standing up on this vital issue!

Linda

Channel 31
http://www.waaytv.com/ scroll right to the segment titled “Opposing Views Represented At …”

Channel 48
http://www.waff.com/global/story.asp?s=11447634 This has the script of the interview. If you watch the video, you can see they cut out “for all” at the end of my quote. But they did at least cut to one of our signs that said “healthcare for all.”

Channel 19
http://www.whnt.com/ scroll down the page to “top videos” section. The segment is titled “Hundreds Protest Health Care Issue” (that’s misleading… but the anchor says at the end that the event drew about 100.)

Channel 54 — the local Fox affiliate doesn’t have anything up yet. They have a very small newsroom and it usually takes a few days for the website to be updated.

Huntsville Times
http://blog.al.com/breaking/2009/11/people_protest_against_-_and_f.html — While the article focuses mostly on the tea party folks, we do get our points in there and are given the last word… that’s always a good thing.
http://photos.al.com/huntsville-times/2009/11/tea_party_rally_1.html — This page has a slide show of photos from the event. Look to the right of the page and click on “View as a slideshow.” There’s one poor guy who ended up being photographed with a sign that says “angry mob” and an arrow that, the way he holds it, points to his groin area …

Linda
=================

—– Original Message —–
From: Linda Haynes
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 9:47 PM
Subject: report on tonight’s event — protesting the protestors

Hi all,

Great response tonight! Big thanks go to all 20 of our NAHA people (and friends!) who made it out to protest the local TEA party folks (anti-healthcare reform people).

Below are photos from the event:
YAHOO http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NorthAlabamaHealthcareForAll/photos/album/679380920/pic/list
FACEBOOK http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=158399&id=159504394739

We were interviewed by all four TV stations and the Huntsville Times. We’ll post their items as they become available.

Again, thanks everyone for your quick and enthusiastic response!

Linda

For those who couldn’t be at the “Healthcare is a Human Right” event last night … here are some of the powerful messages the panelists offered:

• Dr. Pippa Abston had people stand who knew someone suffering because they can’t afford healthcare … almost every person (70 people) in the room stood!
• Dr. Celia Lloyd-Turney talked about how any kind of healthcare system, besides Medicare for All, is going to short-change the poor, who are often people of color. Healthcare is a human right and everyone deserves to be treated equally.
• Dr. Wally Retan laid out the main options before us …. (1) we can stay with the current system and costs will double in 10 years;  (2) we can go with a public option which is not fully defined yet, but all ideas still leave millions of Americans left uninsured;  (3)  or we can simply expand an improved version of Medicare to every single American from birth to death.

The evening was filled with lots of other good information and excellent questions from the audience.

The Huntsville Times has a great article and photo in today’s issue. (It’s not online yet.)

THANKS!

We thank our three great physician panelists (Dr. Abston, Dr. Lloyd-Turney and Dr. Retan) as well as our skilled moderator (David Person).

We also appreciate the time donated by our volunteers:  Barb Adle, David Barry, Noor Gillani, Jean Scott, Margaret Stephens, Stef Watson and Ron Wyatt, MD.

And, of course, we owe a hearty thanks to Jerry Burnet and the St. Bartley Primitive Baptist Church for hosting the event!!

Please continue to speak out about Medicare for All! See our “Take Action” page for ideas on what you can do  http://www.northalabamahealthcareforall.org/take- action/

Onward,

Linda Haynes, Co-Coordinator

North Alabama Healthcare for All

http://www.northalabamahealthcareforall.org

256-489-3884

Original Event Notice

Barb Adle and I  (who both have breast cancer survivors in our respective families) held signs along the course at the finish line and were joined by Linda and Gordon after their run.  We had lots of thumbs up from runners and spoke with some who wanted more info about our group.

Then, the survivors’ walk was held on a small track that was lined with pink luminaries bearing the names of those who’ve had breast cancer. We also had a very positive response from people during this walk … since they were moving at a slower pace, it was easier for them see our signs and respond.

Here are a few photos:

FACEBOOK

http://www.facebook .com/NorthAlabam aHealthcareForAl l#/album. php?aid=153158&id=159504394739&ref=mf

YAHOO

http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/NorthAlaba maHealthcareForA ll/photos/ album/392643530/ pic/list

Big thanks to those who braved the cold and rain! 

Linda

As we spoke with people … many had never heard of the “Medicare for All” idea … and wondered where it has been this whole debate.  Of course, it’s been suppressed by Congresspeople at the bidding of their insurance/drug/medical campaign donors.  That’s why we have to continue informing more people and encouraging them to join our efforts — and then, together, we can press Congress to listen to us, for a change.

Big thanks go to our wonderful team of volunteers:

Pippa Abston — wristbands

Aleta Appling — booth volunteer

David Barry — booth volunteer

Lameka Carter — booth volunteer

Gloria Guay — booth volunteer

Jennifer Humiston — booth volunteer

Stephanie Monahon — volunteer scheduling

Robyn Moore — booth volunteer

Doug Roth — booth volunteer and copies of materials

Anis Salib — copies of materials

Margaret Stephens — bandaids with our logo

Stef Watson — webmaster and booth volunteer

Linda Woodcock — booth volunteer and booth supplies

Gordon Woodcock — booth volunteer and booth supplies

We salute you all for taking time out of your busy Saturday to spread the word about “Medicare for All”!

Thank you,

Linda

Here are photos from the festival.

Yahoo page

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NorthAlabamaHealthcareForAll/photos/album/2129857296/pic/list

Facebook page

http://www.facebook.com/NorthAlabamaHealthcareForAll?v=photos&ref=mf#/album.php?aid=149607&id=159504394739

Great crowd tonight! We were happy to see almost 90 people come out for Dr. Pippa Abston’s talk on Universal Single Payer (Medicare for All) on the UAHuntsville campus.

She is a fantastic presenter and handled the questions with ease — even those from the 10 or so people in the audience who are against all reforms.  We were glad to have a very civil audience.

We had a good mix of people attending this event … including quite a few students! (Thanks to the efforts of Tommy Watts, president of the UAHuntsville College Democrats group which hosted the event.)

All four TV stations came out (19, 31, 48 and 54) plus the Huntsville Times. I’ll post their coverage when it’s available… unless someone beats me to it.  [The Huntsville Times article is below]

Here are links to event photos on our Yahoo page and our Facebook page.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NorthAlabamaHealthcareForAll/photos/album/412201952/pic/list

http://www.facebook.com/NorthAlabamaHealthcareForAll

We thank Dr. Abston for her continued commitment to spreading the word about Medicare for All and bringing affordable, quality healthcare to all Americans!

Linda

I posted photos on Yahoo here

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NorthAlabamaHealthcareForAll/photos/album/1958635078/pic/list

And, posted them on Facebook here

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=147383&id=159504394739&saved#/album.php?aid=147383&id=159504394739

The Huntsville Times and WLRH both sent reporters to cover us. Keep an eye/ear out for their reports.

We thank everyone who took time out of their busy schedules to join us this wet morning. That was dedication!

Linda

More info:

email info AT NorthAlabamaHealthCareforall.org