The Mt. View One Care Now Event was a success. On
Friday May 18 we held a Health Care Forum at the Clubhouse at
Fred Duperrault's Condominium complex. Fred is a member of the
Mt. View Voices for Peace, the Green Party and the Impeach Bush
group.
We showed the DVD first and it was a hit. Unfortunately,
we only had 3 for sale afterwards. We could have easily sold 10.
It is a really a must for all of our events. It explains the crisis
and how Single Payer is the ONLY solution. It serves as a springboard
for discussion.
We had a stellar panel to follow:
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Dr. Mike Fischetti, MPH, a Kaiser oncologist,
studied up on 840 prior to the meeting and it showed. I nominate
him to be the best physician speaker for SB840. He has a commanding
presence and eloquently speaks to all the issues. He is not
a member of PNHP/CaPA yet should be. He is volunteering to
be part of our 2 future OCN events in Santa Clara and Sunnyvale
in July. He said that Kaiser is spending a large amount to
create an integrated facility-wide computer system in preparation
for Single Payer. He also spoke about the TV ad campaign by
drug companies pushing drugs that aren't really nexcessary
for cancer pts.only to reap a huge profit.
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Dana St. George, a Kaiser patient, described
her ordeal as an insured Kaiser pt. who was denied the 100 days
of rehabilitation needed after contracting Guillain-Barre disease
which rendered her close to paralyzed from the chest down. She
had to fight for the continued care she was entitled to in her
plan. Even though she improved she still needed nursing care
as she wasn't yet totally independent contrary to Kaiser's assessment.
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Dr. Charles Browning, a CaPA and HCA member,
spoke about his service in the VA system as a psychiatrist.
He pointed out that it is an example of a successful socialized
medical system with very good outcomes. He gave the background
history of PNHP and CaPA.
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Philip Cosby, a member of PIA, Peninsula Interfaith
Action, described that PIA is a coalition of 30+ churches of
many faiths from Daly City to Sunnyvale. Their mission is to
help in the community wherever needed. They not only are targetting
troubled youth in Mt. View where Latino gang activity is on
the rise, but also addressing the uninsured in both San Mateo
and Santa Clara Counties. They are working with the Boards of
Supervisors of those 2 counties to find a way to cover the uninsured
adults.
We left an hour for Q&A and did not use cards.
Often in forums the moderator scrutinizes the questions and many
aren't read. The panel answered any and all questions by folks
raising their hands.
One Catholic priest from St. Athanasius church,
which is a member of PIA, stood up and spoke in his thick Irish
brogue that he was unaware of the scope of the problem and will
now devote attention to this issue.
Our snacks proved to be a real hit! We had folks
sign our petitions and received donations. There was a lot of
discussion after the meeting ended and new relationships were
made.
The print media was invited via email and phone calls but none
came.
Sponsored by:
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Health Care for All California-Santa Clara County
Silicon Valley Coalition
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League of Women Voters of Los Altos/Mt. View
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AAUW-Los Altos-Mt. View Branch
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California Nurses Association
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California Physician's Alliance (CaPA)
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California School Employees Assn. (CSEA)
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The Cardea Center for Women
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Green Party/Santa Clara County
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Santa Clara County Single Payer Health Care
Coalition
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Women's Action Network
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Women's International League of Peace and Freedom
(WILPF), Peninsula Branch
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