September 9, 2009. I recently was honored to be a panelist in my first town hall meeting on September 1st at Mount Zion Synagogue in St. Paul, Minnesota. The meeting was organized by Minnesota State Representative Erin Murphy and drew a large and mostly supportive crowd. Panel members included Representative Tom Huntley (D-Duluth), Dr. Michael Belzer (Chief Medical Officer of Hennepin County Medical Center (Minneapolis), and Reverend Grant Stevenson, pastor at St. Mathews Lutheran church in St. Paul and head of ISAIAH’s Clergy and Religious Leaders Caucus, a faith-based social justice organization.
It was wonderful to see the energy and engagement of people on health reform. We heard three compelling personal stories about the failures of our current health care system—from a small employer who cannot afford health coverage for his workers; to a young man who was dropped from General Assistance Medical Care (Minnesota’s program for low-income adults); to a nurse who has concerns about the drop in quality of care she sees at the bedside.
Each panel member gave an opening two minute statement followed by a very civilized question and answer session. In conclusion, Representative Betty McCollum (D-MN) gave a rallying cry for active lobbying and change, and St. Paul’s Mayor Chris Coleman (D) cited his concern about the costs of health care for city employees. These costs are crowding out funding for parks, libraries and the services that we have enjoyed in St. Paul for many years.
Participants in this town hall meeting were highly supportive of health care reform and the need to cover the uninsured. This was a reminder that our work at SHADAC and SHARE is very important in helping to provide accurate information about the reform proposals moving through Congress, the cost of health care for patients as well as providers, and concerns of the uninsured and underinsured.
Lynn A. Blewett, Ph.D.