WRAL is airing a story this evening that will feature an interview with Dr. Atkinson explaining health care charges.  Here is some background on how this story came about.
At a recent Raleigh Chamber meeting, WRAL’s new General Manager Steve Hammel asked Dr. Atkinson to help him understand the charges he incurred after having surgery at [...]

Today the State Auditor released an audit of the Department of Correction’s prisoner medical costs.  WakeMed is a primary provider of hospital care for Central and Women’s Prisons due to close proximity, and the audit indicates that WakeMed’s reimbursement for these patients is significantly higher than Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement.  As a result of the audit, WakeMed received numerous [...]

As health care reform progresses, wellness and prevention must be a priority.  It is, and has been, one of WakeMed’s top health reform priorities, particularly as the obesity epidemic is a very real issue in Wake County.  According to local research:

70% of adults living in Wake County are overweight/obese
52% of children 12-18 years of age [...]

Christine Craig is the Director of WakeMed’s Government Affairs Department
One of WakeMed’s top priorities for health care reform is focused on preserving Medicare and Medicaid payments to hospitals.  Currently, individuals 65 years and older qualify for our county’s public insurance program, Medicare.  The federal government pays for Medicare services delivered by hospitals and health care [...]

Congressman Brad Miller has been a great friend of WakeMed’s since his days in the North Carolina General Assembly in the 1990’s, and has since been elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. He’s on his way back up to Washington this week, and was able to stop by WakeMed on Monday to take a [...]

Billie Redmond, WakeMed’s Board Chair and small business owner, recently participated in the 2010 NC Economic Forecast’s special session on health care. After the discussion, moderator David Crabtree asked her to be a guest on his weekly show “On the Record.”  The topic: Why is health care reform necessary? If you missed it, watch the show [...]

Christine Craig is the Director of WakeMed’s Government Affairs Department
This morning I joined a couple of my colleagues for a “snow day” planning breakfast.  Those are the best types of meetings!   I shared with them WakeMed’s health care reform priorities.  After much discussion, one of my colleagues said “now this is what reform really [...]

The difficult economy has changed the face of the national health care workforce.  Senior nurses are returning to work, and applications to nursing schools and allied health programs are skyrocketing.  These highly qualified applicants are seeking a career in the stable, “economically immune” health care field. 
It is true that careers in health care are exceedingly [...]

The News & Observer posted a story announcing that the Senate has approved its version of the health care bill in a 60-39 vote after 24 days of debate.  The next step is for the Senate bill to be merged with the bill passed earlier in the House.  Congress’ goal is to have the merged bill on the President’s desk by [...]

In 1992 I was contacted by the editor of the Accent II, Aurora, Colorado’s weekly magazine inserted into the daily paper.  At the time, I was serving as the executive director of Humana Hospital Aurora.  The topic was health care reform.  This same article could be published today with very few tweaks and would be [...]