NEW YORK HEALTHCARE DISPARITIES CONFERENCE HONORS LEADERS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 23, 2009

CONTACT:
Tyrha M. Lindsey
908-672-6024
tyrha.lindsey@laicommunications.com

Shelley Lotenberg
516-572-6055
slotenberg@numc.edu

NEW YORK'S HEALTHCARE DISPARITIES CONFERENCE HONORS LEADERS ON APRIL 17, 2009

Nassau University Medical Center Works to Lead Health Care Equity Dialogue

Award Honoree, Dr. Carolyn Britton, President, National Medical Association

New York, NY (BlackNews.com) - In the spirit of the healthcare equity movement, New York's Nassau County Executive, Thomas R. Suozzi; Dr. Carolyn Britton, President of the National Medical Association; Dr. Gerald E. Thompson of Columbia University; and Representative Carolyn McCarthy of Congressional District #4 of the State of New York will be honored at the 1st Annual Best-Practices Conference: "Creating Sustainable Change in Our Communities". Being presented by The Institute for Healthcare Disparities at Nassau University Medical Center (NUMC) and the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems (NAPH) on April 16-18, 2009 at The Garden City Hotel, the 1st Annual Best-Practices Conference: "Creating Sustainable Change in Our Communities" will honor these four key leaders with the Innovator Award, Legacy Award and Distinguished Service Awards for their career commitments to achieving health care equity.

"Each of the awardees, either through politics or policy and most often both, have been uniquely responsible for driving changes in the healthcare system that improve population health, support safety-net hospitals and systems, and aim to achieve healthcare equity," states Dr. Aloysius Cuyjet, NUMC Chairman of the Institute for Healthcare Disparities.

The 1st Annual Best-Practices Conference: "Creating Sustainable Change in Our Communities," will also feature national keynote speakers such as Harriett Washington, best-selling author of the book, Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans From Colonial Times to Present; John W. Bluford, III, President and CEO, Truman Medical Centers; Henrie M. Treadwell, PhD., Director and Senior Social Scientist for Community Voices: Healthcare for the Underserved; and Dr. Michael Sparer, JD, MPH, Professor of Health Policy and Management, Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University.

In addition, the conference will present workshop sessions with nationally renowned experts in the field of healthcare disparities who will be part of roundtable and panel discussions on a range of topics from reducing health disparities through effective leadership and collaboration to creating new models of healthcare for underserved populations to minimizing the culture and language barriers and innovative hospital collaborations that are working to reduce healthcare disparities.

"As the host of this national conference, the Nassau Health Care Corporation is pleased to be a key player in leading the health care equity dialogue by highlighting our Institute for Healthcare Disparities and our Nucare medical home for the uninsured program, by sharing best practices and learning from each other," states Arthur A. Gianelli, NUMC President/CEO. "As Nassau's safety net health care system, we are committed to create sustainable change and health care equity in the vulnerable communities that we serve."

For more information and to register for the 1st Annual Best Practices Conference: "Creating Sustainable Change in Our Communities", visit www.numc.edu and click on "News & Events" on the homepage or call Karen Banks at (516) 572-0170 or e-mail at kbanks@numc.edu.

The Nassau Health Care Corporation is a public benefit corporation under the state of New York, comprised of Nassau University Medical Center, a 530 bed level I trauma center and teaching hospital, A. Holly Patterson Extended Care Facility, a 589 bed skilled nursing home and five community health centers located throughout Nassau County, providing ambulatory care. Serving a large uninsured and underinsured population, Nassau University Medical Center is the only hospital in Nassau County with a burn center and a multi-place hyperbaric chamber, providing essential services such as trauma, burn care, neonatal and behavioral health care to an at-risk population, including the elderly, Medicaid families, some of the region's newest arrivals and patients with chronic illnesses.