A public forum in Davidson on Thursday will discuss health care reform, with a goal of answering President-elect Barack Obama’s call for input on the issue. The meeting is open to the public and will run from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at Davidson Town Hall. The non-profit Exceptional Children’s Assistance Center of Davidson (wich goes by the lowercase acronym “ecac”) is helping to organize the event.

Connie Hawkins, executive director at ecac, said her organization receives federal funding to help families with children who have special health needs. As the head of a federally-funded group, she said she felt moved to heed the request by President-elect Obama and health secretary nominee Tom Daschle to hold small group meetings nationwide to discuss health care and health care reform. “This is one of our huge issues, the provision of health care,” Ms. Hawkins told DavidsonNews.net.

The issue is also an immediate one for her organization, she said. “As a small non-profit, I write a (big) check every month for health care for my staff. Not only is it a kids and family issue, it’s a small business thing,” Ms. Hawkins said.

At the conclusion of the meeting, organizers plan to submit their recommendations to the Obama transition team and Mr. Daschle.  The grass-roots effort is an attempt by the Obama team to be inclusive. One of the major criticisms of the last major attempt at health care reform, under President Bill Clinton, was that reform proposals were hashed out by a small number of people.

In an invitation flier, ecac described the gathering this way: “President-Elect Obama has made clear that health reform is a top priority and has asked Americans across the country to host health care community discussions over the next few weeks to gather input and ideas from their friends, families and communities.”

Want to know more?

If you have any questions about Thursday’s gathering, call the Exceptional Children’s Assistance Center at 704-892-1321 and ask for Mary LaCorte or Connie Hawkins.