June 5, 2000
CONTACT: Julie Lux
Public Relations & Marketing Director
(816) 756-3140
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ADDRESSES BY GASTON AND DENTZER HIGHLIGHT NATIONAL RURAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION'S 23RD ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN NEW ORLEANS
The critical issues facing rural health were addressed at the NRHA's 23rd Annual Conference in New Orleans, La. May 24-26, 2000. The continuing problems because of the Balanced Budget Act, the impact of the uninsured and aging populations on rural providers and the shortage of providers and health care workers in rural areas were some of the main topics on the minds of the more than 1,000 attendees.
A packed house heard Marilyn Gaston, M.D. Assistant Surgeon General, U.S. Public Health Service, and Associate Administrator, the Bureau of Primary Health Care/Health Resources and Services Administration, present the Terry B. Reilly Memorial Lecture where she encouraged the audience to support the Bureau's "100 Percent Access, 0 Percent Disparities" campaign. Gaston presented some good news for rural residents including the fact that treatment for heart disease and cancer are "going the right direction" when it comes to disparities. "We are doing a good job of screening, but not a good job of keeping patients in care," she said. "The first challenge is to get patients in for the initial testing. The second challenge is keeping them coming back. And, the third challenge is making sure they get the care they need."
She pointed out the bad news, however, is that for minorities and other rural populations the numbers are not so encouraging. "It is amazing that (with the screenings and treatments available) any woman in this country dies of cervical cancer," Gaston said. "However, Vietnamese women are five times as likely to die of this disease as white women. Blacks are three times as likely and Hispanics are twice as likely to die."
The diseases she identified as "going the wrong way" included asthma, diabetes, calling it "almost an epidemic"-- especially with rural minorities--and stress-related illnesses including depression and substance abuse.
Gaston encouraged attendees to do their part to support the campaign and called for rural health professionals to become involved in "forming collaboratives to address chronic disease models in health practices, starting with diabetes." She also stressed the importance of involving the entire community in health care. "Everybody has to become a player to address access and eliminate disparities."
Susan Dentzer, health correspondent on the Public Broadcasting System's The NewsHour with Jim Lerher identified some of the health care issues that will receive the candidate's attention during the upcoming presidential election--and those issues that aren't being talked about.
On the agenda for the campaign, Dentzer sees the "Patient's Bill of Rights" designed to provide protection for HMO subscribers and the issue of prescription drug coverage for the country's 40 million Medicare recipients. In her view, there is little chance that patient protection legislation will be passed by Congress prior to the elections.
Regarding the Medicare prescription drug provisions, Dentzer analyzed both the Republican and Democratic plans and found "neither workable, realistic or affordable in their present state." She observed that, "Medicare prescription drug proposals will be loudly discussed but no action will be taken." She also identified some "issues that aren't being talked about" which include the rapid advances in medical science that can "do more for humanity more effectively then ever," the aging population, and the growing number of uninsured that is 20 percent higher in rural areas.
On a positive concluding note, Dentzer expressed her feelings that the health care issues facing the country will be resolved by quoting Winston Churchill who said, "You can always count on Americans to do the right thing--after they've done everything else."
Other conference highlights including the NRHA Awards Dinner when six rural health professionals and organizations were recognized for their contributions to rural health care and services. At the dinner, NRHA member Thomas A. Robertson of Roundup, Mt. was names NRHA Volunteer of the Year in an award presented annually by the association staff.
Thomas Ricketts was recognized for his years of service as editor of The Journal of Rural Health and out-going president, Gail Bellamy, honored the NRHA National and Washington, D.C. staff members with the President's Award.
For the first time in the association's nearly 25 year history, the NRHA welcomed rural community members--individuals not employed in the health care field--to the conference. "The NRHA appreciates that medical services are just one component of a health rural community," said Charlotte Hardt, in-coming NRHA president. "To best address the issues facing rural residents, we must listen to the entire community. I look forward even more community members will be taking part in the association by the time we meet for the 24th Annual Conference, May 23-25, 2001 in Dallas, Texas."
"I have heard from many members and attendees that this was one of the association's best conferences ever--not only in the outstanding attendance but in the quality and variety of sessions and exhibitors," said Donna Williams, NRHA executive vice president.
For more information on the NRHA 2000 awards recipients, visit the association's web site at http://www.NRHArural.org. For more information, contact Julie Lux, NRHA public relations and marketing director, at (816) 756-3140 or send e-mail to [email protected].
Headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., with a government affairs office in Washington, D.C., the NRHA is a nonprofit association composed of individual and organizational members who share a common interest in rural health. Its primary mission is to provide leadership for improving the health and health care of rural Americans through education, communications, research and advocacy.
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