I’m so grateful to have spent the past seven years working with all of you to make health reform a reality in Oregon. When we began the Archimedes Movement in January of 2006 we were the first grassroots organization to begin talking about getting better health out of health reform. Some thought we were a distraction from advocacy for universal health insurance, but we believed that it was important to get to a common understanding of:

• a core set of benefits that would increase focus on prevention, primary care and chronic disease management, in other words services that would help people remain well and improve health;
• the need to focus on the health of all Oregonians and identifying strategies to get everyone under the tent;
• and realizing that there is more that we hold in common that the areas where we disagree.

It is not often that one gets to travel this amazing state and learning from community members about what is important to them, and that set of values formed the bedrock of legislation in 2007. Then our endorsement of the Triple Aim in 2008, during our inaugural conference, shaped dialogue and legislation in the 2009 session. You did that, not us.

I don’t feel like I’m going far away 🙂

My transition to the Oregon Public Health Institute gives me an opportunity to blend the discussions of health system transformation and the public’s health and I’m excited to help make that happen. I look forward to seeing each of you as we continue working toward a healthier Oregon.