Friday, August 14, 2009
Mason City Town Hall
This morning I held a town hall meeting on health care at Northern Iowa Area Community College in Mason City. I have visited NIACC before, but was impressed at how well maintained the campus and facilities are – tributes to the staff, faculty and the students who go there. I was met by Dr. Debra Derr, President of NIACC, and members of their board. We started the morning in the nursing lab, where students are taught how to care for patients. Jenna Winters, a NIACC nursing student, described for us her decision to enter the health care field and the challenges she will face upon graduation.
We then moved next door to a larger room to hold a town hall on health reform. We had a lively discussion, and some people asked excellent questions. One young man asked about the impact reform would have on the insurance industry in Iowa, and one person described his experiences with health care in Australia. It was a good meeting, and I am proud that Iowans are choosing to take part in this discussion as we move towards a fix for our broken system.
After the meeting I headed back to Des Moines, where I held office hours in my office and met with constituents. It was a good day, filled with information and discussion. I want to thank the people at NIACC for all of their help, Jenna Winters for sharing her experiences with me, and all the Iowans who came out today to make their voices heard.
