A town hall on healthcare is planned for this Friday, March 20 in Benton Harbor.
Berrien County Commissioner Chokwe Pitchford tells us his political action group, Berrien Forward, is organizing the event to talk with residents about their concerns and help connect them with resources to receive care and proactively improve their health.
“You have people who are struggling right now and having to choose between paying for groceries or paying their rent and paying for their insurance premiums,” Pitchford said. “But there’s a deeper level to this as well, where we also want to equip people with the knowledge of the social services that exist in Berrien County.”
Pitchford tells us his organization does door-to-door canvassing, and healthcare is what people are talking about.
“And the number one issue that comes up every time we talk to anyone on the door is access to healthcare. It is always the number one issue for people, whether they’re on Medicaid or Medicare, all the way to having private insurance.”
Pitchford and Berrien Forward are organizing the event as the group seeks to engage the public for educational purposes.
“A lot of people think that healthcare is just the ER room, but we want to try to promote policies, initiatives, and programs that are trying to keep people out of the ER and give them more tools personally to have a better impact on their health.”
Pitchford says a panel of experts on local healthcare options will be at the event to answer questions and offer help. The panelists are Corewell Health South Director of Healthier Communities Nicki Britten, State Representative Joey Andrews, retired community health worker Margaret Clayborn, and Kyna King, the senior project specialist at Corewell Health.
The town hall will be held at the Benton Harbor Public Library from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Friday.
Pitchford says this is Berrien Forward’s first town hall, and it’s planning to do more to help keep the community engaged and informed.
“This is really the public’s opportunity to have their voices heard and to hear from industry professionals and legislators on key issues that we think are going to be really important this year.”
