Spectacular Magazine - April 2014 April 2014 | Page 32
2014 NC BLACK SUMMIT TO FOCUS ON
HEALTH CARE AND THE
BLACK COMMUNITY
RALEIGH, NC - Black elected officials from
around the state will convene the 9th Annual
NC Black Summit on Thursday, April 24th at
the Sheraton Imperial Hotel & Convention
Center in the RTP. The 2014 conference
will provide valuable information to elected
officials, advocates and community leaders
regarding how to help constituents identify
and access the best, most cost-effective
healthcare options in North Carolina.
Titled “Healthcare and our Community:
The Impact of Affordable Care and Medicaid
Reform”, the
Summit features
a number
of dynamic
speakers who
will focus on
healthcare issues
ranging from
the Affordable
Care Act, to the
shifting Medicaid
landscape.
“We plan to
bring together
representatives
from every facet
of the healthcare community to help us learn
how to best navigate the new healthcare
landscape,” says Alliance President Richard
Hooker.”
During the luncheon on Friday, Dr.
Cedric Bright, assistant dean of the UNC
32
School of Medicine, and 112th President
of the National Medical Association, will
provide a local
perspective
on healthcare
issues facing
our community.
Keynoting the
event during
the Friday night
Banquet is Dr. J.
Nadine Gracia,
deputy assistant
secretary of
minority health
with the U.S.
Department
of Health and Human Services (Invited).
That banquet will be preceded by the Ralph
Campbell, Jr.
Leadership
Reception.
In
addition to
stellar keynote
speakers,
Summit
participants
will again have
the opportunity
to dialogue
together and
with expert presenters to discuss issues of
pressing concern to the Black community.
Topics for this year’s conference include:
“Medicaid: What We Need to Know” and “The
Affordable Care Act and the Community.”
Courtney Crowder, acting executive
director, says that the concurrent sessions
are designed to provide expert insight into
these issues. “We
have gathered
outstanding
panels to help us
better understand
what we need
to know about
Medicaid,” says
Crowder.
Panelists
include Dr.
and NC State
Senator Gladys
A. Robinson; The
Honorable Nicole Dozier, assistant project
director of the Health Access Coalition and
Al Delia, director of the Office of Health
Access at the ECU Brody School of Medicine.
“The Affordable Care Act and the Community”
session includes luminaries such as Dr. E.
Benjamin Money, Jr, MPH, President and CEO
of the N.C. Community Health Centers; Sorien
Schmidt, state director of Enroll America
and Barbara Morales-Burke, vice president
of health policy for Blue Cross-Blue Shield
North Carolina.
Friday afternoon’s panel discussion,
moderated by Attorney Peter Grear, will focus
on voter protection and voter suppression.
The Summit will culminate on Saturday
morning with an inspirational breakfast
featuring Travis Mitchell, president of the
Communities in Schools of Wake County.
Mitchell is the great-nephew of the late
Senator Vernon Malone.
Brad Thompson, who helped organize
the Alliance and the Black Summit, says he
expects another outstanding conference.
“We have planned an excellent program
on health care and our community. Along
with jobs, education and access to voting, thi \