Massachusetts Governor, Senator visit Martha Eliot Health Center to champion SCHIP

September 14, 2007

From left: Senator John Kerry, Governor Deval Patrick, James Mandell, MD, President and CEO of Children's Hospital Boston and David Holder, MD, Medical Director of the Martha Eliot Health Center. This Friday, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick will join Senator John Kerry at the Martha Eliot Health Center, a community health center licensed and operated by Children's Hospital Boston, to talk about the importance of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and to call for Congress' renewal of the program.

Administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), SCHIP expands health care coverage to millions of uninsured children in the United States by providing a low-cost health insurance option to families who earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid but who cannot afford to purchase private insurance.

The federal law authorizing SCHIP will expire at the end of September and must be renewed. If this does not happen, many families across the country may lose the opportunity to purchase affordable health care coverage. Millions of dollars are at risk for the state of Massachusetts.

"The State Children's Health Insurance Program has improved the lives of children in our state and across the nation by giving families access to affordable, high quality health care," says James Mandell, MD, president and CEO of Children's Hospital Boston. "Families shouldn't have to worry whether their child will have access to health care. All children deserve the opportunity for a long and healthy life."

WHO:
Governor Deval Patrick
Senator John Kerry
James Mandell, MD, President and CEO of Children's Hospital Boston
David Holder, MD, Medical Director of the Martha Eliot Health Center

WHAT:
Press Conference on SCHIP

WHEN:
Friday, September 14, 11:30 a.m.

WHERE:
Martha Eliot Health Center
75 Bickford Street
Jamaica Plain, MA

Contact:
Keri Stedman
617-355-6420
keri.stedman@childrens.harvard.edu

Martha Eliot Health Center is Children's Hospital Boston's community health center in Jamaica Plain. Established in 1966, it embodies more than 30 years of the hospital's commitment to the children of Boston. MEHC provides comprehensive pediatric, adolescent, adult and OB/GYN medical services including: adult, adolescent and pediatric primary care, diabetes, pre-diabetes weight control clinic for youth, domestic violence, HIV, nutrition services, WIC nutrition services, mental health, OB/GYN, optometry, phlebotomy, substance abuse. For more information about MEHC visit: www.childrenshospital.org/mehc .

Children's Hospital Boston is home to the world's largest research enterprise based at a pediatric medical center, where its discoveries have benefited both children and adults since 1869. More than 500 scientists, including eight members of the National Academy of Sciences, 11 members of the Institute of Medicine and 10 members of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute comprise Children's research community. Founded as a 20-bed hospital for children, Children's Hospital Boston today is a 377-bed comprehensive center for pediatric and adolescent health care grounded in the values of excellence in patient care and sensitivity to the complex needs and diversity of children and families. Children's also is the primary pediatric teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. For more information about the hospital and its research visit: www.childrenshospital.org/newsroom.