Health-care officials weigh in on forum's impact

<p>More than 1,000 people gathered for a meeting on health-care reform at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium on Monday, and while many of them emphatically expressed their views, it didn’t seem that many of them were receptive to learning about the issue.</p><!-- Nothing to do. The paragraph has already been output --><p>“Many of the folks on the left and right have a half-dozen talking points, and they said what they wanted to say. But they weren’t really interested in listening to any actual facts,” said Daymon Doss, executive director of the Petaluma Health Care District.</p><p>“If someone had come there with no information about health care reform, it would have been very difficult for the person to come away with any sense of what it is,” he continued. “There was no clear definition given of a public health-plan option plan, for example. </p><p>“But I don’t believe that advocates, including President (Barack) Obama, have done a good job of explaining what they want. We need a person to bring clarity, and this person should be President Obama. He needs to tell us what he supports.”</p><p>Democratic Rep. Lynn Woolsey hosted the meeting, which she announced after receiving criticism that citizens in the 6th District, comprised of most of Marin County and all of Sonoma County, had not had an opportunity to express their views to her.</p><p>She began by summarizing her own views on health-care reform, amid frequent interruptions as the crowd alternately booed or cheered her. Attendees then had up to two minutes each to express their views.</p><p>“People were so raucous that it was hard for Lynn to give a coherent message, but I thought that she did an excellent job in a very difficult situation. She kept her equilibrium very well, and showed patience,” Doss said.</p><p>Many people, ranging from small-business owners to people with disabilities, spoke of their own personal experiences with health care.</p><p>“I was moved by people’s stories about their struggles to get coverage,” said Kathie Powell, executive director of the Petaluma Health Center. “We heard about real issues from real people.”</p><p>The speakers were from throughout Sonoma and Marin counties.</p><p>“I was surprised that so many people came from Marin, especially because the meeting took place right after work for a lot of people, and there was quite a bit of traffic,” Powell said.</p><p>“There weren’t many sophisticated speakers, but there were a couple of poignant ones,” Doss said, singling out the vivid story told by a military veteran in a wheelchair.</p><p>“He got plenty of applause until he said he was for a public health-plan option,” he said.</p><p>Doss was surprised at the turnout for the event — the hall was jammed, and another room was overflowing — particularly at the number of opponents of proposed health-care reform plans.</p><p>“I was surprised at the number of people there, especially at the number from outside the Petaluma area. I thought opponents would make up about 25 percent of the crowd, but I would say they made up 35 percent to 40 percent of it — and when it came to loudness, the split was about 50-50 with advocates,” he said.</p><p>“It was a talk-radio type of event: I’m sure that people on both sides of the issue were targeted by talk radio,” Doss added.</p><p>Powell and Doss were surprised at the highly emotive nature of the meeting. Many people brought signs, stating such views as, “Universal Health Care is Patriotic,” “Health Reform: Not Takeover” and “Canada Shows U.S.A. How.”</p><p>“People were very passionate, weren’t they?” Powell said. “I was surprised there was as much anger in the room as there was, and at the lack of understanding about our public health-care system. I also was surprised that people opposed to a public health-care plan weren’t concerned about taking care of people who aren’t being taken care of presently.</p><p>“I didn’t think that anyone in our country thought that health-care is a privilege, rather than a right. I was appalled. I’m very conservative, but I believe in public health care, and that it’s our responsibility to take care of everyone in this country.”</p><p>“If this meeting had been held six weeks ago, I don’t believe there would have had nearly as big of a crowd, or the same degree of animosity,” Doss added. “I’ve been in this area for 50 years, and never have seen such an outpouring of people for an event, outside of a sporting event.”</p><p>(Contact Dan Johnson at dan.johnson@arguscourier. com)</p><h3>Video: Watch the entire forum</h3> <!-- Start of Brightcove Player --> <div style="display:none"> Health Care Town Hall Meeting with Lynn Woolsey, Petaluma Ca., August 31, 2009.; Health Care Town Hall Meeting with Lynn Woolsey, Petaluma Ca., August 31, 2009.; Health Care Town Hall Meeting with Lynn Woolsey, Petaluma Ca., August 31, 2009.; Health Care Town Hall Meeting with Lynn Woolsey, Petaluma Ca., August 31, 2009.; Health Care Town Hall Meeting with Lynn Woolsey, Petaluma Ca., August 31, 2009.; Health Care Town Hall Meeting with Lynn Woolsey, Petaluma Ca., August 31, 2009.; Health Care Town Hall Meeting with Lynn Woolsey, Petaluma Ca., August 31, 2009.; Health Care Town Hall Meeting with Lynn Woolsey, Petaluma Ca., August 31, 2009.; Health Care Town Hall Meeting with Lynn Woolsey, Petaluma Ca., August 31, 2009.; Health Care Town Hall Meeting with Lynn Woolsey, Petaluma Ca., August 31, 2009.; Health Care Town Hall Meeting with Lynn Woolsey, Petaluma Ca., August 31, 2009.; Health Care Town Hall Meeting with Lynn Woolsey, Petaluma Ca., August 31, 2009.; </div> <script src="http://admin.brightcove.com/js/experience_util.js" type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> // By use of this code snippet, I agree to the Brightcove Publisher T and C // found at http://corp.brightcove.com/legal/terms_publisher.cfm. var config = new Array(); /* * feel free to edit these configurations * to modify the player experience */ config["videoId"] = null; //the default video loaded into the player config["videoRef"] = null; //the default video loaded into the player by ref id specified in console config["lineupId"] = null; //the default lineup loaded into the player config["playerTag"] = null; //player tag used for identifying this page in brightcove reporting config["autoStart"] = false; //tells the player to start playing video on load config["preloadBackColor"] = "#FFFFFF"; //background color while loading the player /* do not edit these config items */ config["playerId"] = 37654271001; config["width"] = 520; config["height"] = 587; createExperience(config, 8); </script> <!-- End of Brightcove Player -->