I first heard John Kitzhaber speak about transforming the way we approach health care in the fall of 1989 at Emanuel Hospital in Portland. It wasn’t until October of 2005 that I had an opportunity to meet Governor Kitzhaber. As I learned about his ideas for changing the debate about health reform, focused on health instead of health care, I was hooked again.

Two years and a few months later – together with you – we’ve started a movement. And while we still have a long way to go to achieve our goals, there is no question that Governor Kitzhaber frames the need for reform (and the issues which must be part of the health care debate) better than anyone else in the country. As founder of the Archimedes Movement, and member #001, the Governor sets the bar high for any serious discussion or debate about reforming the health system.

The Meyer Memorial Trust recently awarded us a generous grant and the timing couldn’t be better. It allows us to build and solidify our presence in Oregon and grow from there. Here are some of the things already moving forward:

  • We’re adding two key staff positions: the first is for outreach and the grassroots community work, including support of chapter activities, and the second will support projects that are underway, such as donor development, grant writing, updating educational materials and other collateral and more. The outreach position closed on February 28 and the project coordinator closes on March 7, so please forward the position descriptions ASAP to anyone you think might be interested.
  • The next Archimedes leadership training is scheduled for April 5, which will focus on tools for community speakers. The meeting will be in Salem, from 10 – 3 and among our goals is to identify people who are willing to do public speaking across the state and then create opportunities for those speakers to present. We’ll post more details about the training soon, and send notices out through the chapters, but for now email us if you’re interested in attending the training.
  • We’re also planning an inaugural gathering of Archimedes Movement members – the First Annual Archimedes Membership Meeting. It will be a time for the members to be acknowledged, review what we’ve accomplished, set our sights looking forward, get some work done and also have some fun. More news to come on that soon.
  • In a true sign of taking ownership of the movement, a group of Archimedes members formed an Interim Steering Committee. The Committee has outlined an organizational structure that gives the grassroots membership an explicit role in decision making related to the Movement. Since we operate under the 501(c)(3) of The Foundation For Medical Excellence we didn’t need to create a board with fiduciary responsibility, but we did need to outline how decisions would be made and how the members would play a role in those decisions. This is exciting and you’ll see more details soon.

The Archimedes Movement is a partner in a recently awarded grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation called Consumer Voices for Coverage. The group that worked on bringing that grant to Oregon included the Oregon Health Action Campaign, Oregonians for Health Security, Oregon OSPIRG, Oregon Action, the Oregon Latino Health Coalition, the Family Action Coalition Team, Sankofa Health Institute and the Archimedes Movement. This will be a great opportunity for our members to take part in other community leadership and advocacy skills building activities, with an overall goal of stronger consumer voices in the health reform debate.

Lastly, (but don’t panic!) we’re planning some changes to the website which will make it easier to find information you’re looking for, give everyone an easier way to figure out what we’re up to and identify ways to get involved.

As you can see there is a lot going on, and more to do in the coming year. Continue to give us your feedback and insights as we continue to grow and expand ways for you to get involved.

Thanks and take care – Liz