Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA) completed her third day of touring Sacramento's health care system on Friday, ending with a round table discussion at the Sierra Health Foundation with health care professionals regarding how to improve health care within the Sacramento district, as well as the nation.

A member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which presides over many health care issues, Matsui expressed her desire to meet with the "people on the front lines" of the health care system here in Sacramento, hoping to discover ways that "affordable and quality health care for all Sacramentans" can be achieved.

The panel discussion touched on the importance of primary and preventative care, mental health services and the complications created by the segregation of access to county services, nonprofit clinics and hospitals. Panel members included executive officials and representatives of local health centers and organizations such as MAAP, Inc., The Effort, the Capitol Community Health Network and the Sacramento Native American Health Center.

Matsui also spent two days prior to the discussion visiting Kaiser Hospital, the Radiological Association of Sacramento Medical Group Facility and the UC Davis Emergency Room.

Arnoldo Torres, a participant in the panel discussion and interim chief executive officer of MAAP -- a nonprofit organization that provides comprehensive health care services to South Sacramento -- explained afterward that he wanted to "provide [Matsui] with a very clear understanding...of the challenges that [the organization] goes through every day," serving what he considers the most neglected region in the county in terms of health care.

Torres also discussed MAAP's health care reform proposal, which he said would account for county and state budget cuts and integrate nonprofit clinics, hospitals and county services. Torres intends to meet with Matsui again in the near future to further discuss the proposal.

Susan DeMarois, assistant director for government and community relations for the UC Davis health system, said she felt Matsui's visit provided the Congresswoman with an accurate understanding of the operations of the UC Davis ER department.

"As Congress considers health care reform, we feel ER rooms are on the front line," she said, emphasizing the role of emergency rooms as safety nets for people who can't obtain health care elsewhere.
"We are the safety net for the Sacramento region," she added.

Dr. Jonathan Breslau, of the Radiological Associates in Sacramento, said that during Matsui's tour at the facility she was shown some of the imaging technology responsible for detecting early stages of breast cancer and thereby reducing the costs of treatment.

"We wanted her to see the kind of high-quality and low-cost services that are available in her district," Breslau said.

"Sacramento is lucky [to have] good health care systems," Matsui said at the conclusion of the three-day tour, stating nonetheless that "just because we have a state-of-the-art health care system in Sacramento does not mean that every Sacramentan has access to it." She voiced her concern for a woman she met in Sacramento and the "millions of people across [the] country...in her same situation" who have been laid off and are at risk of losing health care benefits.

Matsui will return to Washington, D.C., where she will continue to address access to quality health care and health care reform in Congress.

"Prevention is going to be so important," Matsui said.

The Congresswoman emphasized the need for a primary care delivery system, and for people to have access to primary care doctors. She cited mental health services as another area of importance.

"From talking to the doctors at the UC Davis Medical Center during my tour, it became even more evident to me that there is a severe shortage of services for the mentally ill in Sacramento," she said, adding that state and county budget cuts are a threat to mental health care.
 

Matsui expressed her intent to continue dialogue with Sacramento health officials in the future, stressing the importance of their input on health care reform.
"I want my colleagues in Congress to know that the people on the front lines and in our community clinics have some good ideas about how to fix our nation’s health care system," Matsui said.

*Author's Note: Accompanying photos courtesy of the Office of Congresswoman Doris O. Matsui.