Henry Raymond

Fairfax News => Political Issues/Comments => Topic started by: Henry on September 13, 2011, 01:34:05 PM

Title: Yup!! Dr. Alan Ramsay Was My Doctor
Post by: Henry on September 13, 2011, 01:34:05 PM

Gov. Shumlin announces appointments to Green Mountain Care Board



SEPTEMBER 13- MONTPELIER – Gov. Peter Shumlin today announced his appointments to the Green Mountain Care Board, a body that is central to the implementation of health reform in Vermont.  The Board is responsible for creating the first single payer health care system in the country, which will control costs and guarantee coverage regardless of employment status.
 
“In putting together this team, I looked for five really smart people who are fully committed to the goal of controlling health care costs, achieving universal coverage, and who can work as a team,” Gov. Shumlin said. “I also looked for people who could think creatively about how to encourage and reward Vermonters and Vermont health care practitioners for improving health and getting the most value out of our health care dollars.”
 
The Governor’s appointees include a business person, a practicing Vermont physician, an internationally-known health policy leader, an experienced state leader with extensive health care experience, and an expert in state-based health care reform.  They are:
 
Chairwoman Anya Rader Wallack, Ph.D. of Calais.  Wallack will chair the Green Mountain Care Board.  Wallack has served as Gov. Shumlin’s Special Assistant for Health Reform since January and spearheaded his legislative effort on health reform during the 2011 session.  Wallack is a native Vermonter who has lived for the past 13 years in Rhode Island.  She staffed then-Gov. Howard Dean on health care in the 1990s and ran the Vermont Program for Quality in Health Care.  More recently she ran the Massachusetts Medicaid Policy Institute and served as interim President of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation before launching a consulting business in state health policy.
 
 Al Gobeille of Shelburne.  Gobeille owns a restaurant business in Chittenden County.  He is active in the Lake Champlain Chamber of Commerce and serves on the Shelburne select board.  He also is a board member of the Visiting Nurse Association and a member of the state of Vermont’s payment reform advisory committee.
 
Karen Hein, M.D. of Jacksonville.   Hein is immediate past President of the William T. Grant Foundation, which funds research to improve the lives of adolescents throughout the U.S.  Previously she served as Executive Officer of the Institute of Medicine, overseeing the IOM Quality Initiative and numerous projects and publications aimed at informing efforts to improve health care delivery.  Hein was a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow with the U.S. Senate Finance Committee in 1993-94.  She also is a longstanding faculty member at Columbia University and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where she has conducted extensive research on adolescent HIV/AIDS.  Hein has served on a number of non-profit boards, including the Dartmouth Medical School Board of Overseers and the board of RAND Health.
 
Con Hogan of Plainfield.  Hogan has worked for the past 10 years as an international consultant and co-authored two books about Vermont health reform with Dr. Deb Richter.  Previously he served as Secretary of Human Services under Governors Dean and Richard Snelling.  Hogan was President of the Montpelier firm International Coins and Currency from 1980-1991.  Before that he served in numerous positions in the State’s Department of Corrections.  Hogan is a well-known single payer advocate who has authored several books on Vermont health reform.
 
Allan Ramsay, M.D. of Essex Junction.  Ramsay is a family physician in Colchester.  Ramsay has been a professor in UVM’s Department of Family Medicine since 1980.  He has been a national leader in developing unique models for making sure that patients’ wishes are followed at the end of their lives.  Before coming to Vermont, Ramsay served as Medical Director for an HMO in rural Colorado and served in the National Health Service Corps.
 
Gov. Shumlin said he was pleasantly surprised at the level and volume of talent exhibited by applicants to the Green Mountain Care Board.  More than 100 people applied for the five jobs.  A nine-member nominating committee reviewed their applications and forwarded to the Governor 22 candidates who they deemed “qualified” to meet the requirements set forth in Act 48, the state’s health reform law.  Gov. Shumlin thanked the nominating committee for their work and also thanked those who applied for the board and were not chosen as appointees.
 
“All of the candidates showed a strong commitment to meaningful health system reform and had impressive skills and experience,” the Governor said. He said that in making his choices, he focused on competence, experience, and a proven ability to affect real change in the health care system.
 
“These five people have their job cut for them,” Gov. Shumlin said. “But I have no doubt that they will rise to the challenge and lead Vermont toward a bright future in which all of our citizens can afford access to quality care and our health care system is an asset unmatched by that of any other state.”
 
The Green Mountain Care Board will begin work on October 1.


http://governor.vermont.gov/newsroom-gov-shumlin-green-mountain-care-board-appointments (http://governor.vermont.gov/newsroom-gov-shumlin-green-mountain-care-board-appointments)

Title: Re: Yup!! Dr. Alan Ramsay Was My Doctor
Post by: mkr on September 13, 2011, 01:49:35 PM

Dr. Ramsay was a great choice and I am proud to have called him my doctor!

Foxx 44 has a picture in their report.

http://www.fox44now.com/story/15450369/green-mtn-care-board-team-announced (http://www.fox44now.com/story/15450369/green-mtn-care-board-team-announced)

Title: Re: Yup!! Dr. Alan Ramsay Was My Doctor
Post by: Henry on September 13, 2011, 02:44:50 PM

(http://www.vtgrandpa.com/photos/albums/forum_photos_2011/green_mt_care.jpg)
Shown above are:  Chairwoman Anya Rader Wallack, Ph.D. of Calais, Con Hogan of Plainfield, Karen Hein, M.D. of Jacksonville (hidden behind Shumlin), Gov. Shumlin, Al Gobeille of Shelburne,  Allan Ramsay, M.D. of Essex Junction

(http://www.vtgrandpa.com/photos/albums/forum_photos_2011/gmc_110914.jpg)

Title: Re: Yup!! Dr. Alan Ramsay Was My Doctor
Post by: rod anode on September 14, 2011, 03:27:34 AM

so when is this new tax gonna start?

Title: Re: Yup!! Dr. Alan Ramsay Was My Doctor
Post by: mirjo on October 17, 2011, 11:27:53 AM

At least the health care industry is represented by one of its own and not just a board of business people who know nothing about health care. It is a specialty that needs to be treated as such.  I'm  all for what's best/fair what will work. I personally have never understood why insurance companies were run by business executives and not medical professionals (Yes, they hire nurses to triage people & "help" make decisions about care) but mostly it comes down to folks who know nothing about what people need to stay healthy or get well.

You don't bring your dog to your mechanic or your car to your vet when either has a problem. Both need their own specific care. Health care needs those who understand it dealing with it for it to work right.