Our Panel Discussion, recorded on September 15, features an outstanding panel of physicians. These health care experts share their views of how health care is changing because of the COVID-19 pandemic and how it needs to change. Click below to watch this very timely and important discussion.
You can read more about the speakers in our previous post: https://lwvpdx.org/the-future-of-healthcare/
This program will also be shown on Comcast and Frontier cable channels. See the schedule below.
Our hearts go out to the many Oregonians who have suffered terrible losses because of the current wildfires. We had already been living with great challenges. Now an unprecedented number of communities in Oregon and neighboring states face fear and devastation beyond anything we ever imagined. We are grateful to the firefighters battling the blazes and all those supporting the victims and evacuees. To help, please visit the Red Cross website https://www.redcross.
So many important things are happening at once! Here are links to the posts and pages about them:
Protests have always played an important role in drawing attention to the need to change our laws and attitudes. Battles for civil rights and voting rights went on for years, with many marches and demonstrations. Disrupting normal life with a demonstration can attract media attention that helps the movement.
On the other hand, violence between protesters and the police or the destruction of property may turn attention away from the protesters’ real message.
In mid-September, we are conducting a Zoom panel discussion about the future of healthcare in Oregon. The recording of this discussion will be posted on this website.
Our three panelists are physicians, who also are experts on public health, women’s health, and current health care challenges, including the coronavirus pandemic.
David Bangsberg, MD, MPH is the Founding Dean of the joint OHSU-PSU School of Public Health. He will talk about how people’s living conditions influence their health. What does this mean for treating COVID-19? Can we “treat” our way to better health?
Michelle Berlin, MD, MPH is Vice Chair of Public Health and Faculty Affairs, as well as Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the OHSU School of Medicine and Professor of Public Health and Preventative Medicine in the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health. She directs the OHSU Center of Women’s Health, an innovative health care center addressing the unique health problems of women.
Divneet Kaur, MD specializes in family practice. She is also the Interim Director of the Multnomah County Mid County Health Center in east Portland. She will bring her unique perspective on healthcare inequities, particularly in BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) communities.
MODERATOR: Joanna M. Cain, MD, is a retired Professor of Ob/Gyn and Radiation Oncology, University of Massachusetts School of Medicine, and past Professor and Director of the Center for Women’s Health at OHSU. 
She presently works with the World Health Organization (WHO) in the global Eliminate Cervical Cancer initiative, and with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on clinical trials with Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines.
Each panelist will address how COVID-19 has revealed many of the issues around our current healthcare system. What lessons can we learn as we address this crisis? How can these lessons lead to beneficial changes in the future?
MetroEast Community Media will record this program. Then we will post the link on this website and you can view it from our YouTube channel. It will also be cablecast on public access TV channels Comcast 29 and 329 and Frontier 27.
Check this website again on or after September 18 to access and view this important panel discussion.
On August 26, 2020, we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the certification on the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This amendment states that the right to vote cannot be denied on account of a citizen’s sex. It gave 26 million American women the right to vote. Unfortunately, some women were still denied the vote because of their race or ethnicity. So this was an important beginning, but much more needed to be done.
In 1973, U.S. Congresswoman Bella Abzug introduced a resolution to make August 26 Women’s Equality Day. Her resolution was passed by Congress on August 16, 1973. Every year since then, each U.S. President has proclaimed August 26 as Women’s Equality Day, honoring women’s voting rights and recognizing that work toward full equality for women is progressing, but not yet complete.
