Senator Bob Dole to Hold Landmark Health Care Forum at Dole Institute of Politics in Kansas
Contact: Eileen McMenamin, Director of Communications
Leaders’ Project on the State of American Health Care to Focus on
Individual Responsibility and Rural Health
Washington, DC – July 29, 2008 – Senator Bob Dole will convene a landmark health care policy forum, titled, “Reforming the U.S. Health Care System: Supporting the Role of Individuals,” at the Dole Institute of Politics in Lawrence, Kansas. The event will be held on Monday, August 4 from 12:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. (CDT), in the Institute’s Hansen Hall, 2350 Petefish Drive.
The event, co-sponsored by the Bipartisan Policy Center and the Dole Institute, will feature leading health care providers, policymakers, employers, consumer advocates, and other key stakeholders in the health care arena. Panel topics will focus on ways to encourage individuals to take greater responsibility for their health and health care. A special discussion will also be held on rural health.
Senator Dole’s forum is part of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s (BPC) Leaders’ Project on the State of American Health Care. The Leaders’ Project is directed by the BPC’s Advisory Board, chaired by former U.S. Senate Majority Leaders Howard Baker, Tom Daschle, Bob Dole, and George Mitchell. It is an unprecedented effort to help break political gridlock in Washington, DC, regarding health care reform. The goal of the Leaders’ Project is to produce politically viable policy recommendations to address the delivery, cost, coverage and financing challenges facing the nation’s health care system.
Forum Speakers and Panelists to Include:
Sen. Bob Dole, former U.S. Senate Majority Leader and Bipartisan Policy Center Advisory Board Member
Barbara F. Atkinson, MD, Executive Vice Chancellor, University of Kansas Medical Center
C.M. Cameron Lynch, Executive Vice President, Bipartisan Policy Center
Chris Jennings, Co-Director of the Leaders’ Project, President of Jennings Policy Strategies, Inc. and former Senior Health Care Advisor to President William J. Clinton
Panel I: Empowering Patients to Access and Effectively Use High-Value Care
*Marcia Nielson, PhD, MPH, Executive Director, Kansas Health Policy Authority, Topeka, KS
*James O. Dague, MHA, FACHE, President and CEO, Goshen Health System, Goshen, IN
*Douglas J. Swartzentruber, MD, FACS, Medical Director and Surgical Oncologist, Goshen Health System, Goshen, IN
*Bill Wing, Vice President for Healthe Services, Cerner Corporation, Kansas City, MO
Panel II: Engaging Consumers on Preventive and Wellness Care to Encourage Healthier Lifestyles
*Claudia L. Hohnbaum, MA, RD, LD, Assistant Director, Healthy Kids Challenge, Dighton, KS
*Arneatha Martin, RN, MN, ARNP, Co-Founder, The Center for Health and Wellness, and Health Policy Authority Board Member, Wichita, KS
*E.J. “Ned” Holland, Jr., Senior Vice President for Human Resources and Communications, EMBARQ, Overland Park, KS
Panel III: Health Care Reform: Meeting the Needs of Rural Communities
*Secretary Roderick L. Bremby, Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Topeka, KS
*Cathy Harding, Executive Director, Kansas Association for the Medically Underserved, Topeka, KS
*Michael L. Kennedy, MD, FAAFP, McCann Professor in Rural Health, University of Kansas School of Medicine, Kansas City, KS
*Jackie John, Vice President for Resource Development, Great Plains Health Alliance, Phillipsburg, KS
NOTE: Members of the press interested in attending please RSVP to Eileen McMenamin at lpforum@bipartisanpolicy.org. All electronic media should arrive by 11:30 a.m.
The event is free and open to the public but space is limited. Please RSVP to lpforum@bipartisanpolicy.org if you would like to attend. For those unable to attend, please visit www.bipartisanpolicy.org/healthcare to submit comments for the record.
For more information about the Leaders’ Project on the State of American Health Care visit www.bipartisanpolicy.org/healthcare
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About the Robert J. Dole Institute: The Dole Institute of Politics is dedicated to promoting public service, civic engagement and politics. It is located on KU’s west campus next to the Lied Center. For more information on the Dole Institute, visit http://www.doleinstitute.org/ or call (785) 864-4900.
About the BPC: Former U.S. Senate Majority Leaders Baker, Daschle, Dole, and Mitchell formed the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) to develop and promote solutions that can attract the public support and political momentum to achieve real progress. The BPC acts as an incubator for policy efforts that engage top political figures, advocates, academics, and business leaders in the art of principled compromise. For more information please visit our website: http://www.bipartisanpolicy.org/.
