Roberts to address state’s health care crisis
Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts will be the guest speaker at the opening meeting of the 2007-2008 year of
Mended Hearts, Chapter #338 on Tuesday, September 18th at 6:30pm at the Christiansen Conference Center at Landmark Medical Center, 115 Cass Ave., Woonsocket. The meeting is open to the public and free. With Rhode Island facing a major health care crisis, Lt. Gov. Roberts will give her outlook for the future of Rhode Island’s health care system and discuss her work on the Community Hospital Task Force.
In accepting Mended Hearts’ invitation to speak at the meeting of heart patients, caregivers and cardiovascular professionals, Roberts said, “We need to start moving in the direction of a health care system that is affordable, high quality and accessible to all Rhode Islanders. We need to have a system that makes sense, a system in which people receive preventative care so minor ailments do not become major illnesses and chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease are managed so that fewer patients end up in the emergency room.”
Mended Hearts serves residents of the entire region, including nearby Massachusetts and Connecticut. Mended Hearts meets monthly to provide support, education and help to individuals and families living with heart disease. Mended Hearts, Inc. is the largest national non-profit organization made up of – and serving people with – heart disease. Membership is open to heart patients, family members, caregivers and medical professionals working in the field of cardiac health.
Members of Mended Hearts have the opportunity to be trained to visit other heart patients in the hospital and provide a key role in recovery and personal victory over heart disease. There are over 280 local chapters in the United States and Canada, and volunteer members make more than 227,000 hospital visits each year.