Thanks to everyone who helped make last week’s protest at Carle Clinic a success! Many people came out to the protest, and many more helped distribute flyers, make protest signs, helped photocopy materials, and much more!

The protest was on Tuesday, Nov. 20 at 11 a.m., and we had a great turnout! We had between 40 and 50 protestors, and we got news coverage on two TV stations, two radio stations, and in the News-Gazette.

The show of support from motorists driving by was overwhelming. For the entire duration of the protest, lasting an hour and a half, people were driving by and honking in support of the protestors. We did have a delegation who tried to go into Carle Clinic to deliver a Thanksgiving card to Dr. Bruce Wellman and the Board of Directors. The card was signed by everyone at the protest, and had a letter detailing the policy changes that Carle Clinic could implement which would immediately alleviate the health care access crisis in our community.

As we went to deliver the letter through the main entrance at Carle (where the circle driveway is, in front of the parking garage), the security guards literally ran to the sliding glass doors facing University Ave., and locked the doors. Our delegation, along with patients/visitors to Carle, were locked out. So, we walked around to the other side to try to enter through the sliding glass doors that face north, and we were stopped by security guards. We advocated for them to let in the patients/visitors who were not with us, and we said that we wanted to deliver the card to Dr. Wellman. They still denied us access, so we returned to the protest and continued for another half-hour.

Click here to watch a video of the protest and the speeches (YouTube).

Click here to listen to the WILL Public Square from 11/16/2007 read by Health Care Access Task Force member Cindy McDonnell about the protest (MP3). 

Click here to read the letter the Health Care Access Task Force will send to Carle Clinic.

Click here to download the Carle Clinic Protest media advisory (PDF).

Click here to download the Carle Clinic Protest chants (PDF).

Click here to download the Carle Clinic Protest statements (PDF).

Click here to download the flyer for this protest (PDF).

News Coverage:

• Clinic protested for denying care – Daily Illini – 12/12/07

This protest was hosted by the Health Care Access Task Force of the Champaign County Health Care Consumers. The Health Care Access Task Force is working to end the local health care access crisis and create a lasting solution that guarantees quality, affordable health care for all Champaign County residents. All are invited to participate in this protest and join the Health Care Access Task Force.

 

If you missed CCHCC’s very own Executive Director, Claudia Lennhoff, as a keynote speaker at this fall’s University YMCA’s Friday Forum series, you can now watch it on YouTube!

Click here to watch the video.

Claudia spoke to a full room on Friday, November 2, 2012, on the “Future of the Universal Health Care Debate” as part of the Fall 2012 Friday Forum series entitled “Beyond the Rhetoric.” She discussed the future for health care reform and universal health care, both at the national and the state level, given the outcome of the elections. Grassroots organizing will play a very important role in shaping health care policy and bringing real solutions to our failing health care system.

Claudia Lennhoff is executive director of the Champaign County Health Care Consumers (CCHCC), a grassroots public health group and powerful and effective voice for Champaign County’s most needy residents. In 2002, she was selected as one of 10 Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Leadership Program awards for her work in reinstating a popular Medicare program that eliminated out-of-pocket medical costs for low-income seniors and disabled citizens. CCHCC also worked to force the University of Illinois to provide contraceptive coverage for its employees.  She also helped spearhead efforts to create the county’s first comprehensive public health service. One nominator called Lennhoff “the moral compass of our community’s health care system.”  

This lecture is part of the University YMCA’s fall series, Beyond the Rhetoric: Key Issues in the 2012 Elections.  This semester’s free, public lectures featured expert views on vital policy questions and shed light on local, state, and national races as they unfold.