In Wisconsin, there are 22,603 healthcare professionals and workers who are not yet registered to vote. That means that even if you are registered, 1 out of 5 of your colleagues in Wisconsin is not. If we are going to change our national healthcare system, we need everyone's voices and every nurse, doctor and caregiver registered to vote.
Contact Us!
To get in touch with us, please contact Healthcare United Wisconsin organzizer Patrick Flaherty at patrickf@healthcareunited.org or via phone at (414) 248-2173.Resources
Healthy Wisconsin: www.citizenactionwi.org
9to5: http://www.9to5.org/
Milwaukee’s Shepherd Express Covers Healthcare United’s Voter Registration Efforts
by Brad Levinson | Thursday, June 26, 2008
Healthcare United was featured in an article published yesterday by the Shepherd Express of Milwaukee. The piece covers our efforts to mark Juneteenth through our new voter registration drive.An excerpt:
Juneteenth 2008 celebrated, as it always does, the day in 1865 on which slaves in Texas learned that they had been emancipated. But this year's Juneteenth celebration also was a day of action for Milwaukee's African-American residents and health care professionals who want the next president and elected officials to address the wide racial disparities in health care.Click here to read the full article.
Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Healthcare United and their allies were at the Juneteenth gathering on June 19, where they registered voters and urged Milwaukeeans to make health care an important electoral issue. "We have to actively engage in the political process," said Clarene Anderson of the Black Health Coalition of Wisconsin. "We have to force the change that needs to occur."
Before the event, national SEIU representatives stopped in Milwaukee as part of a national "Road to Health Care" bus tour aimed at drawing attention to how members of racial and ethnic minorities are disproportionately disadvantaged by America's broken health care system.
From Wisconsin: Yesterday’s Juneteenth Events
by Brad Levinson | Friday, June 20, 2008
Wisconsin Healthcare United's Patrick Flaherty and volunteer Bill Martin register voters yesterday at Milwaukee's Juneteenth celebration, one of the largest in the country.
To read more about yesterday's celebration, please visit One Wisconsin Now's great recaps here and here.
Dian Palmer, RN on Healthcare Inequities
by Cathy Glasson, RN | Friday, June 20, 2008
As you all know, yesterday was Juneteenth (see earlier posts). As nurses, it's a day to educate ourselves on the healthcare inequities that exist in our country, and to reflect on what can be done to bridge the divide.
In recognition of Juneteenth, my close friend and colleague Dian Palmer, RN had an op-ed published in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. I wanted to share a portion of her powerful statement (and encourage you to read the full article, here):
In a nation that spends more than $150 billion annually in medical treatment and loses nearly $1 trillion in productivity due to illness, everybody pays for health inequities. Left unaddressed, health disparities will unravel even the best efforts to improve the nation's overall quality of care.
...
Even African-Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities with health insurance face disparities in delivery of care and health outcomes. In a nation that spends more than $150 billion annually in medical treatment and loses nearly $1 trillion in productivity due to illness, everybody pays for health inequities. Left unaddressed, health disparities will unravel even the best efforts to improve the nation's overall quality of care.
As we tackle the health care crisis, health equity must be a centerpiece of any reform. Closing the gaps with equitable solutions is a modest price.
Healthcare United Wisconsin Talks With Sen. Herb Kohl’s Office About Medicare and Medicaid
by Patrick Flaherty | Friday, May 30, 2008
Healthcare workers across Wisconsin collected more than 3,000 signatures from colleagues in healthcare calling on Congress to reverse President Bush's proposed massive cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. A delegation from Healthcare United met with Sen. Herb Kohl's office on May 30, 2008, to turn in the petitions and to share personal stories about how the $200 billion in cuts would harm patient care and safe staffing.
From Wisconsin: Got Healthcare?
by Patrick Flaherty | Thursday, May 01, 2008
This summer marks the launch of a "Got Healthcare?" campaign in Wisconsin that seeks to break the legislative gridlock on healthcare reform by connecting people's immediate demand to fix our broken system to politicians. The Got Healthcare campaign is led by Citizen Action of Wisconsin and a coalition that includes Healthcare United. The campaign will collect postcards from Wisconsin voters calling on state and federal candidates for office this November to focus more on addressing America's healthcare crisis (a recent Healthcare United survey of healthcare workers showed that 85% of us believe the Presidential candidates aren't emphasizing healthcare enough).
The Got Healthcare campaign will also put the matter directly to voters on November 4 in communities across Wisconsin by scheduling referenda on whether the Wisconsin legislature should guarantee health coverage as good as legislators get to all Wisconsin residents by December 2009. Wisconsin cities with possible votes on healthcare this November include Green Bay, Appleton, Menasha, Neenah, Oshkosh, Eau Claire, Menomonee, Altoona, River Falls, City of Hudson, New Richmond. Healthcare United supporters in those communities are encouraged to help get signatures to ensure that the measures are on the ballot by contacting HCU Wisconsin organzizer Patrick Flaherty at patrickf@healthcareunited.org or (414) 248-2173.