Nov. 30, 2009 issue
Health care forum
Germantown Mennonite Church, Philadelphia
By Grace Marie GerberOn a Sunday afternoon in October, our church hosted a Healthcare Reform Neighborhood Forum in our sanctuary, with Wendell Potter, former public relations chief for Cigna, as our featured speaker.
Pastor Kipp Gilmore-Clough welcomed everyone, including a number of area residents who were reached by door-to-door solicitation by our committee. Our own Niku Thomas, cardiologist, shared personally before introducing Potter.
The transformation in Potter’s life happened one day when he went out of curiosity to view a rural health clinic in Wise County, Va., where people stood in long lines for hours in the rain, waiting to be seen by doctors, dentists and other healthcare workers. Many had slept in their cars the night before. Potter knew then and in the following weeks that he was on the wrong side of the health care reform debate. His life changed because of what he saw and witnessed.
He resigned his post at Cigna and now says that he has found his true purpose in life, advocating for the uninsured and underinsured and doing all he can to speak out on behalf of healthcare reform in this country. He remains hopeful that positive change in our system will come as more people dedicate themselves to speak out on behalf of the disadvantaged and disenfranchised.
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