Ginny Gnadt
Senior Public Relations Specialist
(414) 297-6770, gnadtv@matc.edu

Healthcare Reform Topic of Nov. 19 Panel Discussion

MILWAUKEE (Nov. 5, 2009) – “Healthcare Reform, America’s Crisis: Care, Cost & Competition” will be the topic of a free, public panel discussion from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19,  at Milwaukee Area Technical College’s Downtown Campus. It will be held in Stormer Hall, on the second floor of the “T” Building, 1101 N. 6th St.  It also will be broadcast at MATC’s other campuses – in Room 202 at the Mequon Campus, Room A241 at the Oak Creek Campus, and in Room 345 at the West Allis Campus.

The focus of the discussion will be on the current state of the U.S. healthcare system, its future, and how that relates to public health and economic policy. Panelists will present multiple perspectives and suggest ways an individual can have an impact on the future of healthcare. Sponsored by the Liberal Arts and Sciences and Health Occupations divisions, this presentation is part of MATC’s Grassroots Series.

Mitch Teich, executive producer of the "Lake Effect" program on WUWM-Radio, will be the moderator.

Panelists include:

-- Paul Nannis, healthcare consultant with Strategic Health Care Solutions, LLC, Milwaukee, specializing in community health programs. Previously, he was vice president for governmental and community relations for Aurora Health Care; an appointee to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; executive director of the 16th Street Community Health Clinic; and City of Milwaukee health commissioner.

-- Scott J. Adams, associate professor of economics at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, who specializes in the economics of healthcare and was a senior economist for the U.S. President’s Council of Economic Affairs from 2008-09.

-- Gary J. Colpaert, vice president for perioperative services at Froedtert Hospital and the Medical College of Wisconsin, who will speak from the perspective of a hospital administrator.

-- Susan Hornshaw, dean of MATC’s Liberal Arts and Sciences Division, who was born in Canada and spent much of her adult life there. She is an anthropologist with considerable knowledge of the health care systems in other countries.

--Evelyn Merriett, MATC instructor of nursing and former public health nurse. Merriet has a great deal of experience with serving uninsured and under-insured populations in Milwaukee.

For more information, please call (414) 297-6300.