PALM HEALTH CARE TASK FORCE (HCTF)

Next HCTF Meeting:
To be scheduled

To be added to the e-mail reminder list for HCTF meetings and events, e-mail Dave Koehler at dkoehler@palm.h-p.org.

About the PALM HCTF
In April of 2002, the PALM HCTF, a group of local labor, management and community people, sponsored a two-night Open Space event on health care at the Peoria RiverPlex. Out of that event came a renewed effort to explore ways that the community could affect change on our health care system and the health of our citizens.

In March of 2003, the PALM HCTF followed up with a one-day conference at the Holiday Inn City Centre, bringing together experts from across the nation to talk about what the future of health care will look like in the U.S. from their perspective. In part, that message was that communities need to focus on promoting healthy lifestyle choices that people can make for themselves.

On April 1, 2003, with co-sponsor Methodist Medical Center of Peoria, PALM launched the first annual Moon Walk, challenging people in the Peoria tri-county area to get healthier together by walking the equivalent of the distance from Earth to the moon. More than 2,500 people participated and that goal was reached by Aug. 1and a return trip goal set for original target date Oct. 31. Moon Walk 2004 will launch April 1, 2004, with new goals and incentives. The successful walking event was first envisioned by a HCTF committee.

Still to come is the Lifestyle Medicine Symposium, scheduled for November 7, 2003, and December 5, 2003, featuring researcher Dr. Steven Aldana, PhD, Director of graduate studies at Brigham Young University College of Health and Human Performance, and Dr. Roger Greenlaw, MD, Medical Director for SwedishAmerican Center for Complementary Medicine and faculty member of the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford, Illinois. These two programs are open to the public and will be held at the Gateway Building on Peoria’s Riverfront. Click here for more information or to register.