Former Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber will be the keynote speaker at the University’s third annual Oregon Economic Forum, which will be held at the Oregon Zoo in Portland on Oct. 11.
The forum brings together professionals from the public and private sectors in order to share economic ideas.
“We try to bring together leaders from the academic, business and government communities and explore economic issues that are pressing for Oregonians,” said Tim Duy, an adjunct assistant economics professor and director of the forum.
Duy said many faculty members in Oregon’s economics department work on issues such as healthcare, equality matters and macroeconomics. The forum provides an environment to share their work with the public and other professionals.
This year’s goal is to increase attendance and raise awareness about the event, Duy said.
“We’ll do that by putting on a solid program and so far we’ve been very successful at that,” he said.
This year’s topic will be the growing problem of funding healthcare. Kitzhaber, also a physician, tried to reform Oregon’s Medicaid program in the early 1990s.
Duy said Kitzhaber was selected because he has been an aggressive proponent for change in Oregon’s healthcare.
“We were looking for someone of his stature who was willing to offer an informed opinion on the question of, ‘Are we ready to change the healthcare system?’” he said.
Following Kitzhaber’s speech will be a panel of professionals, headed by Jack Friedman, CEO of Providence Health Plans, reacting to Kitzhaber’s suggestions.
Duy said he wanted Friedman on the panel because discussing healthcare change would be effective when interested parties participated.
“His firm is a significant element of the healthcare system,” Duy said. “We want to involve people who have a stake in that change.”
A public question and answer session will conclude the day’s events. Duy said the “give and take with various community members” was a way to involve citizens in the debate.
The forum will begin at 7:30 a.m. and the cost is $50.
Contact the business, science and technology reporter at [email protected]
