MEDIA RELEASE
Compassionate Care Alliance
By Renee Brincks
FOR MORE INFORMATION (Media Inquiries Only)
Vicki Nelson, Executive Director, Compassionate Care Alliance
831-655-9506 or vcnelson@earthlink.net
www.CaringResources.org
LEON PANETTA TO HEADLINE LOCAL HEALTH CARE FORUM
National leader will discuss end-of-life care challenges and opportunities at free April event
MONTEREY, Calif., March 8, 2007 – Former White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta will lead “Monterey County’s Health Care Future: Expectations and Limitations,” on Wednesday, April 11, 2007. The public forum starts at 7 p.m. in the Hyatt Regency Monterey’s Regency Main Ballroom.
Compassionate Care Alliance, a local non-profit providing end-of-life care resources for Monterey County residents and health professionals, is presenting the event.
Drawing on more than 40 years of public service and policymaking experience, Panetta will share insight on current health and end-of-life care issues from state, national and global perspectives. He will address the importance of assuming individual responsibility for care, as well as the role of and limitations of government in the industry. In addition, he will discuss local concerns, including this area’s shortage of medical professionals and challenges faced by Monterey County care facilities. Following his presentation, Panetta will take questions from the audience.
"We all know there is a growing health care crisis that affects every family," says Panetta. "The question is whether we continue to ignore it or have the courage to finally do something about it."
Co-founder of the Leon & Sylvia Panetta Institute for Public Policy, Leon Panetta has actively influenced health, education and social policy throughout his career. As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993, he authored legislation to establish Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement for hospice care for the terminally ill. He also worked with national leaders on health care financing as director of the Office of Management and Budget and as Chief of Staff under former President Bill Clinton. Panetta is a trustee for the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula and a member of the Blue Shield of California board of directors.
The April 11 event is free and open to the public, and reservations are required at 831-655-9506. Choice Home Health Care is the forum sponsor.
About Compassionate Care Alliance
Compassionate Care Alliance is a non-profit coalition dedicated to improving end-of-life care in Monterey County. In addition to encouraging dialogue on care issues, choices and planning, the group provides ongoing information and resources for residents, professionals, patients and families. For more information, visit www.CaringResources.org or call 831-655-9506.