Better health begins before a patient ever sees a physician or enters a hospital. Housing, food, education, employment and other social factors play a massive role in the cost of healthcare and the ultimate health of our community. What can local citizens do in their cities or counties to improve community health and reduce healthcare costs?

Title: Better health at lower cost: What’s a community to do? The Social Determinants of our Health

Speaker: Joshua Freeman, MD

Dr. Joshua Freeman, Alice M. Patterson MD & Harold L. Patterson MD Professor & Chair of Family Medicine at the University of Kansas Medical Center, will discuss what non-physician civic leaders should consider to create a healthier community and reduce costs of healthcare. Dr. Freeman will allow ample time for audience questions and comments.

TWO OPPORTUNITIES:

Date: Wednesday, March 9th, 2016

Time: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm

Venue: Loucks Auditorium, Salem Public Library, 585 Liberty St SE, Salem 97301

For questions, contact: Salem City Club, www.salemcityclub.com, Cindy Condon, President, (503) 581-7227, cindycondon@comcast.net or Oregon PNHP, Samuel Metz, MD, (503) 754-1329 pnhp@samuelmetz.com

                                                      AND

Date: Thursday, March 10th, 2016

Time: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm

Venue: Unitarian Universalist Church in Eugene, 1685 W. 13th Ave, Eugene

For questions, contact: City Club of Eugene, Mark Hougardy, Administrator, , administrator@cityclubofeugene.org (541) 485-7433 www.cityclubofeugene.org or Oregon PNHP, Samuel Metz, MD, (503) 754-1329 pnhp@samuelmetz.com

About the speaker:

Dr. Freeman is the author of the book “Health, Medicine, and Justice” and maintains the blog “Medicine and Social Justice” www.medicinesocialjustice.blogspot.com.   He speaks extensively about medical education, minority recruitment, and the contribution of social factors to public health.