CHW urges Congress and Obama Administration to successfully conclude health care reform

Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) President/CEO Lloyd H. Dean unveiled a multi-faceted campaign today aimed at pushing health care reform in Washington to a successful conclusion. CHW’s “September for Reform” will bring the resources of one of America’s largest hospital systems to bear on the national health care reform debate with a focus on urging members of Congress and the Obama Administration to accomplish reform this fall.

CHW’s public campaign will include a new video highlighting the organization’s highly successful and rational health care town halls from this summer; a new advertising campaign to run in major US media publications; and a Congressional outreach for the fall legislative session.

“CHW has been advocating for national health care reform for years. We’re getting close and we can’t let up now,” said CHW CEO Lloyd Dean. “This is an historic moment in America’s long debate on health care reform. Our elected officials need to have the courage to finish the job in Washington and our campaign is designed to support them in the most difficult moments of the debate.”

“Put simply, the time is now for making American health care better,” he concluded.

In showcasing its new video, CHW is highlighting the contrasts between many of the congressional town halls with the productive and thoughtful events organized by the hospital system this summer. In all, more than 750 people attended the CHW Town Halls, offering passionate comments on the state of the American health care system and ideas for its reform. The online video can be seen at http://www.chwreform.org/.

CHW will also unveil its third round of advertisements later this month that will appear in the major media publications. The ads will run starting September 7th, 2009. Examples of CHW’s previous ad campaigns can also be found at http://www.chwreform.org.

The series of issues ads, created by the San Francisco advertising firm EC1, will appear in the print and online versions of the Washington Post, the Washington Times, The Hill, Roll Call, and the Wall Street Journal, as well as on key websites including CNN, the New York Times, Roll Call, the Drudge Report, and Politico.

In addition, CHW CEO Lloyd Dean is planning to lead a group of CHW local hospital presidents to meetings with members of Congress this fall. In all, CHW hospitals care for a population spanning more than 22 million people in Arizona, Nevada, and California each year. The organization treats an increasing number of the working poor, who cannot afford health insurance, in its emergency rooms every year.

“Our local hospital presidents are our touchstones when it comes to health care in our communities. They should have a powerful voice with their elected representatives working on national health care reform,” Dean said.

CHW is a national leader in advocating for health care reform. In 2007 and 2008 CHW launched its first series of advertisements advocating for health care reform in California. The organization also convened leaders in business, academia, health care, labor, religion, and research for a think tank style, invitation-only discussion designed to generate new ideas for reforming the U.S. health care system. The Healthcare Leadership Summit was moderated by Leon Panetta, who was then the director of the Leon & Sylvia Panetta Institute for Public Policy.

The organization also co-led the effort that created Healthy San Francisco, the universal health care approach that is now delivering quality primary and preventive care to more than 45,500 uninsured residents of San Francisco.

And in March 2009 CHW released the findings from its annual Health Security Index™, based on a nationwide survey of more than 1,150 adults. The survey found that despite the ailing economy, more people in the U.S. are worried about rising health care costs (67%) than are worried about losing their jobs (37%). The survey also found that for the first time, a majority of U.S. adults (51%) believe the nation’s health care system is getting worse.

CHW has long supported that health care be available for all in need. In 1992, the Board of Directors took an official position in support of universal access. And in 2003, the organization established four principles for reform – universal access, stable financing, and improved quality and accountability.