Health Caucus Convenes Feb. 4

The House and Senate Joint Legislative Health Caucus will hold its first meeting on Wednesday, February 4th, from noon to 1:00 p.m. in the Butrovich room in Juneau's State Capitol building. The topic for Wednesday's meeting will be Fiscal Hemorrhaging in Health Services A discussion of how to decrease health cost drivers: Chronic Conditions and Crisis Prevention

Doug Bruce, Director of the State of Alaska Public Health Division, will give an explanation of the critical role the division plays in long term chronic health care and crisis for the state.

Beverly Wooley, Director of Health & Human Services for the Municipality of Anchorage, will describe preventative care and crisis prevention programs in the state's largest municipality.

The director of the North Slope Borough Health Department, Merry Carlson, brings a rich addition to the discussion from a rural health delivery perspective.

Minority co-chair, Rep. Sharon Cissna, as moderator for the meeting said, "We must expand our understanding of statewide efforts to increase prevention and reduce the costs of crisis."

The public and the media are both encouraged to attend the meeting. Information on how to teleconference into the meeting for those outside of the Juneau area may be obtained by calling Rep. Cissna's office toll-free at 1-800-922-3875, or your local Legislative Information Office.