SONOMA STATE UNIVERSITY
University Affairs Office
1801 E. Cotati Avenue
Rohnert Park, CA 94928-3609
(707) 664-2057
e-mail: jean.wasp@sonoma.edu
University Affairs Office
1801 E. Cotati Avenue
Rohnert Park, CA 94928-3609
(707) 664-2057
e-mail: jean.wasp@sonoma.edu
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 7, 2003 File #363
Contact: Jean Wasp, Media Relations, (707) 664-2057
SSU Conference Will Look at "Ground Zero" of Health Care Crisis
Whether it is tackling the problems of soaring health care costs, uninsured children, health care predicaments of the elderly, or dissecting the dilemmas of cash-starved public hospitals or the critical doctor and nurse shortages, a spring conference on May 9-10 at Sonoma State University will look at Sonoma County as a "ground zero" in the health care crisis in the area, state, and beyond.The conference will study many critical problems facing the County in nearly 20 separate panels and workshops to be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day in the Cooperage on the Rohnert Park campus.
"Most of the daunting problems striking the health care system across the state and country can be found in microcosm in Sonoma County," says Gil Ojeda, program director of the California Program on Access to Care, California Policy Research Center.
"In a sense, Sonoma County becomes a laboratory for action for other counties which will be going through similar circumstances but may not yet have a common forum for dialoguing and working out these critical problems," he says.
Some of the workshops address how to apply ideas specifically to Sonoma County such as insuring all children as quickly as feasible and the critical lack of medical personnel.
The conference will also look at possible solutions such as a variety of single payor and universal coverage options, studying health care usage to find ways to slow cost inflation and increase care quality and lowering health care costs through prevention, early intervention and outpatient counseling.
The 25 guest speakers will include those working at the heart of the crisis, such as Gil Ojeda; Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey; Dr. Bob Schultz, Physician-in- Chief of Kaiser Permanente, Santa Rosa; Bleys Rose, senior health care writer for the Press Democrat; Liz Close, chair of the SSU Nursing Department; Bob Shirrell, Santa Rosa health consultant; Barbara Bamberg, Dale Iversen, and Shawndra Nimtz, CEOs of three district hospitals; Shirlee Zane and Carroll Estes Ph.D., of the Council on Aging; Jim Leddy, district coordinator for State Senator Wesboro and a number of SSU faculty members.
The conference will be of particular interest to health care purchasers/employers, faculty, students, personnel-human resources-finance professionals, health care providers, and members of the community concerned about future directions for their own care.
Cost is $10 per day, which includes lunch. For further information, visit the website: www.sonoma.edu/programs/healthcrisis/. Advance registration is recommended. For further information, call Skip Robinson, (707) 523-2888.