Tom Debley (8/25/09)

The Long Quest for Health Care Reform: A Bay Area Doctor's Belief in Health Care as a Right

Tom Debley, Director, KP Heritage Resources; Author, The Story of Dr. Sidney R. Garfield: The Visionary Who Turned Sick Care into Health Care

From FDR's era to today, the U.S. government has not lived up to many Americans' hopes for universal health-care coverage. With another attempt in the works, one voice has been constant even now, a quarter century after his death. It¹s that of Sidney Garfield, co-founder of Kaiser Permanente. Who was he? What can we learn from him? He was persistent and he valued opposition, even as opponents tried to take his medical license. Yet former U.S. Health, Education and Welfare Secretary Joseph Califano once remarked, "Let us hope that we can match the sweeping vision and the earthy practicality of leaders like Sidney Garfield." Debley will discuss the life and lessons of Sidney Garfield.

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• tom debley
• kaiser permanente
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