FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Lynn Cearley

Healthcare Committee Chairperson

Dallas Area Interfaith (DAI)

Organizer’s Headquarters:

1104 Lupo Drive, Dallas 75207

214-456-8980

FAX: 214-689-6865

www.DallasAreaInterfaith.org

DAI Brings the Parkland Board of Managers to the People

At the request of DAI, the Parkland Board of Managers has organized a public hearing for the community to speak directly to the Board. The hearing will take place Tuesday, July 27, 2004 at 7:00 PM at the New Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church, 2735 Marder St., Dallas, Texas. The community is invited to attend and address the Board with concerns about the current crisis at Parkland.

The Board will hear from employees, volunteers, and patients, including one woman’s account of her 30-hour wait, during which her appendix ruptured. They will hear about excellent care coupled with crumbling infra-structure. They will hear the integral role Parkland plays in our community.

DAI supports the following actions for Parkland Health & Hospital System:

· Respect and encourage the presence and participation of citizens in public meetings.

· Develop a budget adequate to restore confidence in quality service for inpatient and outpatient services, including the COPC clinics.

· Support a Dallas County Hospital District tax increase to assure continuation and needed growth of Parkland services.

· Act to ensure that surrounding counties pay their fair share for their residents who receive care at Parkland.

· Act to secure federal funds available for the health care of Medicaid recipients, children, and immigrants, which have been blocked in Austin.

· Oppose proposed tax cuts in Austin which impede the viability of our County Commissioners to protect the viability of our county hospital.

The Reverend Gerald Britt of New Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church has stated, “The new Board of Managers has an opportunity, indeed an obligation, to embrace openness and continue this conversation, free from the shackles of political ideology and the manacles of marching orders that will surely rob this Board and this process of its integrity. DAI offers itself in this process as a resource to aid not only the Board, but to serve the interests of those whom we represent to make certain their voices are heard and that their quality of life is no longer threatened by decisions that are not in their best interest.”

DAI is an organization of 60 institutions located throughout Dallas and Collin Counties. It is a coalition of people of faith organized for the purpose of engagement in public life, identifying and training leaders from these institutions who work on issues raised by their families, communities, and congregations. DAI’s agenda includes neighborhood redevelopment, housing, public education, immigration and citizenship, as well as health care. The organization is non-partisan and works across lines of race, geography, and class in order to help the voiceless find their voice and participate in the public arena.