2008 Healthcare Conference
SHOUTAmerica officially launched its effort to fix healthcare by bringing student government leaders from across the country to Nashville, Tennessee on October 5th–7th, the eve of the Presidential Debate at nearby Belmont University.
At the 2008 SHOUTAmerica Healthcare Leadership Conference, participants gathered at the Scarritt Bennett Center to hear from and interact with numerous healthcare leaders as drawn from politics, policy, business, and academia. The Speakers included:
- US Representative Jim Cooper, (D-TN)
- US Senator Bob Corker, (R-TN)
- Stephanie Kennan, healthcare policy expert and author of the “Healthy Americans Act”
- Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, a former member of President Clinton’s Health Care Task Force, author of “Healthcare Guaranteed” and current Chair of Bioethics at the NIH.
After hearing from a host of experts and discussing the future of our healthcare system, participants helped develop implementation plans to take the SHOUTAmerica cause back to their respective campuses. Highlighting the call to action was a viewing of the original Declaration of Independence, followed by the signing of SHOUTAmerica’s “Declaration of Commitment” to the pursuit of healthcare reform. To cap things off, participants attended a VIP viewing of the Presidential Debate at the historic Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville.
The facts demonstrated that young Americans stand to shoulder the greatest burden of the impending healthcare crisis. It is clear we need profound, long-term change that addresses how we think about, pay for, and deliver healthcare in this country – facilitating this change will require awareness, education, and dialogue. In turn, this three-day event both informed and inspired, these elements are central in SHOUTAmerica’s effort to strengthen this nation’s future by fixing healthcare.