Denver Community Forum
Community leaders from across Colorado gathered on July 30, 2008 in Denver, CO for a discussion on comprehensive health care reform. AHA collaborated with the Colorado Hospital Association and the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce for this forum.
Discussion panelist Kevin Lofton, president and CEO of Denver-based Catholic Health Initiatives and immediate past chairman of the AHA, encouraged health care, business, payer and community development organizations to develop and unite behind a reform strategy for policymakers to implement at the national, state and local levels.
“If we magically had an insurance card that took care of the 47 million uninsured in this country, that would still not solve the problem,” Lofton said. “We still have to tackle all the components of Health for Life.” To that extent, said Colorado Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien, “we need to make sure wellness and prevention are woven into the very fabric of the decisions we make on reform.”
By the end of the forum, participants had agreed on a set of guiding principles: increasing health care access and coverage, ensuring that costs are shared fairly by all, improving efficiency within the system and providing for greater sharing of information among providers.
Forum panelists
Kevin Lofton, president and CEO of Catholic Health Initiatives and immediate past chairman of the AHA Board of Trustees
Peter Kenney, president of Civic Results
Jan Kief, M.D., Colorado Medical Society
William N. Lindsay, Lockton Companies of Colorado
Molly Marker, director of community outreach for Exempla
Barbara O’Brien, Lieutenant Governor of Colorado
Steven Summer, president and CEO of the Colorado Hospital Association
Maureen Tarrant, CEO of Sky Ridge Medical Center
Jay Want, M.D., president and CEO of Physician Health Partners
Read more
AHA News Now, "Denver forum deals straight talk on fixing nation’s health care problems," August 4, 2008
The Denver Post, "Forum backs principles for health care reform," July 30, 2008, John Ingold