Churchill Area Neighbors praised for hosting citywide health care forum

High praise for the Churchill Area Neighbors after organizing a citywide health care forum, drawing 220 in person, and so far, almost 500 more online.

Councilor Randy Groves: DeLeesa Meashintubby said something that I want to emphasize: ‘This is just the first step.’ And if you look at, or ever read the saying by philosopher Lao Tzu, ‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,’ that’s kind of what this is.

But I want to thank our panel. Thank you for being here and I want to include in that David Butler from McKenzie-Willamette who gave us some really good news tonight.

[00:00:41] I want to thank the church (Willamette Christian Center) and Pastor Van Clements and the congregation for opening up this beautiful facility for us to use. I want to thank all of you for taking time out of your evening to be here for this important discussion.

[00:00:56] I’m sorry we only got through eight questions of well over 60, but it’s a complex issue that really deserves more discussion.

[00:01:03] And I really want to end by thanking the Churchill Area Neighborhood Association Board of Directors who put this whole thing on. And there’s a lot of work that went behind the scenes. It just didn’t materialize like this. We’ve been working on this for months. I especially want to thank Jensina (Hawkins), our talented moderator, but also she was a workhorse behind the scenes, as was our CAN board chair, Sara Zoll. Thank you, Sara.

[00:01:52] And, you know, the last point I want to make before I hand the mic back is: how important it is to be involved. And one way to do that is through your neighborhood association.

[00:02:02] I’m not aware of another event that’s occurred like this, that was organized, run, fundraised, the whole process from soup to nuts, to bring this important dialogue out into the community, and not just for the Churchill Area Neighbors, for our entire city.

[00:02:20] I mean, we have neighborhood leaders from other associations. I know we have Lin Woodrich and Tai Pruce-Zimmerman, who are co-chairs from Active Bethel Community, who also donated to put this on.

[00:02:32] So it’s been a big effort, but I’m hoping we have more of these. And I appreciate the bravery and the work of stepping out. I know you guys have been just really nervous about this, but I think you knocked it out of the park.

[00:02:49] John Q: Eugene City Councilor Randy Groves praises neighborhood volunteers who organized the citywide health care forum. The good news from McKenzie-Willamette: Plans for a 12-bed satellite emergency department in Eugene.

[00:03:02] Speaker Julie Fahey and Rep. Nancy Nathanson joined health care executives to answer your questions about the future of health care in Eugene. Councilor Groves says, this conversation will continue.