April 15, 2008

Local Medical Groups Sponsor Cover the Uninsured Community

Forum

In recognition of the problem of  medically uninsured, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, its affiliated hospitals, Memorial Medical Center and St. John’s Hospital, and the Sangamon County Medical Society and its alliance have again joined a national grass-roots campaign known at Cover the Uninsured (CTUW).

Nearly 47 million Americans, more than 15 percent of the U.S. population, were without health insurance in 2007.  The local CTUW effort is part of a campaign sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (www.covertheuninsured.org), including an awareness week during April 27 – May 3.

The group is offering a free public program to spotlight the plight of the uninsured in conjunction with CTUW.  The forum is at 6 p.m. Monday, April 28, at Bunn Auditorium, St. John’s Hospital, 800 E. Carpenter St., Springfield.

“Local Faces of the Uninsured: A Community Response” will be presented by a panel from the Springfield community.  Ross Silverman, J.D., associate professor and chair of medical humanities at SIU, will moderate the panel.  Panelists include Dr. Jerry Kruse, professor and chair of family and community medicine at SIU; Sister Ritamary Brown, senior advisor for advocacy, Hospital Sisters Health System; Dr. Jane Jackman, community health physician and past president of Ilinois State and Sangamon County Medical Societies; Sameer Vohra, SIU medical/law student; and Stacy Murray, advocate for Homeless United for Change and supervisor for The Salvation Army.   

Additional sponsors of the event are the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, SIU Center for Health Law and Policy, Greater Springfield Interfaith Association, Islamic Society of Greater Springfield, Springfield Ministerial Alliance, Springfield Jewish Federation and Springfield branch of the NAACP.

For more information, contact Isabel Manker, Sangamon County Medical Society, 525-0765.  The local Web site is http://www.siumed.edu/news/CTUW08events.html.

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