UND Center for Rural Health Provides Federal Testimony on Health Reform
Jul 30,
2009
GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Senator Kent Conrad heard testimony from the University of North Dakota (UND) Center for Rural Health on July 2 regarding the importance of health reform for rural health in North Dakota. Senator Conrad was joined by North Dakota native and Obama Administration official Dr. Mary Wakefield and Grand Forks area health care leaders for a roundtable meeting on health care reform. Senator Conrad said he is advocating reform legislation based on three principles: choice, value and coverage.
Center interim co-director Brad Gibbens stressed the importance of taking rural health into consideration when restructuring the nation’s health care system.
“Many in rural health worry that other issues that are fundamental to building an equitable, stable, and sustainable health system will be lost in the overall debate on coverage and who pays for it,” said Gibbens. “And, at the heart of health reform, be it coverage or access to care, the reason we are taking on this huge struggle is a desire to see improved health conditions for all Americans.
Gibbens focused on three fundamental themes critically important to all North Dakotans: a strained health workforce, health facility viability and questionable sustainability, and a continued national focus on understanding care quality and making quality improvements. Gibbens’ testimony was informed in part by an environmental scan of North Dakota’s health and health care completed earlier this year by the Center for Rural Health.
Senator Conrad serves as Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and as a veteran member of the Senate Finance Committee, which has already begun work on negotiating the shape and scope of health care reform legislation.
