The City Club of Corvallis Lunch is at Grace Lutheran Church for May, and we have two doctors in the house. Both physicians are versed in health care delivery around the world, and the politics surrounding our system in Oregon.
The conversation could not be more prescient – our own congressman, Peter DeFazio has been here in the district conducting health care forums, and is co-sponsoring Medicare for All legislation. Last year, Oregonians passed Measure 101, approving $330 million in taxes for the state’s healthcare system, and further measures are anticipated. Nationally, voters currently rank health care as one of the two most important issues facing the nation today, according to the Pew Research Center, and CNN.
The scope of this forum starts as a deep dive update that surveys the political landscape surrounding health care delivery in Oregon and the U.S., for this year and the upcoming election cycle in 2020. Along with this, attendees will get a brief and broad examination of similarities and differences between health care delivery systems in the developed world.
Our two panelists are Dr. Samuel Metz, and Dr. Mike Huntington.
Samuel Metz MD is an anesthesiologist in Portland. He is a member of Oregon Physicians for a National Health Program and a founding member of Mad As Hell Doctors, both of which advocate universal healthcare. He was previously a member of the Universal Access to Healthcare Workgroup commissioned by the Oregon legislature and the Universal Healthcare and Health Coverage Task Force of the Oregon Medical Association. His opinion pieces have appeared in the New York Times and many Oregon newspapers. He has been a guest speaker on NPR, OPB, and other radio and television stations in Oregon.
Mike Huntington, MD is Vice-Chair of the Board of Mid-Valley Health Care Advocates. Now retired, Huntington was a Radiation Oncologist for 35 years, and was Medical Director of the Radiation Oncology Department at Samaritan Regional Cancer Center in Corvallis from 1984 to 2006. He attended Oregon State University and the University of Oregon Medical School, now Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU). He was an Army flight surgeon in Viet Nam in 1969. He received his residency training at OHSU.
This forum is slated for Tuesday May 14, starting at 12 noon. Attendance is free. Doors will open at 11:30 am at the Grace Lutheran Church of Corvallis at the corner of Harrison & Kings. The event will begin at noon, and a lunch from Valley Catering will be available: $10 for members and $15 for nonmembers. To reserve lunch, send email to info@cityclubofcorvallis.org by Friday, May 10. You can also pay for lunch online with your credit card.