Heart of Montgomery County to Host Agency Conference

Event will feature local health care experts, celebrates “Cover the Uninsured Week”

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas -- Heart of Montgomery County and the Montgomery County United Way will host the first ever Agency Conference from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on May 1 at the Shenandoah Banquet & Meeting Center as part of “Cover the Uninsured Week.”

Exhibitors will include health insurers, retail clinics, home health and long-term care facilities, the Social Security Administration, Texas Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services, UTMB-Conroe, Montgomery County Hospital District, Montgomery County Veteran's Assistance, Veteran’s Assistance Hospital and Leap of Faith. The forum also will include three panels of local experts who will speak about healthcare-related issues affecting men, women and children.

The meeting site is located at 29955 I-45 North in Shenandoah.

The purpose of the agency conference is to bring attention to the 100,000 uninsured residents of Montgomery County and to work together as a community to find solutions to the disparities in health insurance coverage. Heart hopes to increase dialogue among Montgomery County agencies to make each aware of what services other organizations offer.

“The unacceptably high number of uninsured residents in Montgomery County from all walks of life affects each member of our community,” commented Jeanne M. Knapp, President of Heart. “We have to work together to make sure every individual has access to appropriate health care services, especially our children. Without options, the uninsured can only choose local emergency rooms for treatment, a costly result for hospitals and the community. ‘Cover the Uninsured Week’ is the perfect opportunity for Heart to highlight this growing, critical problem in our county.”

Although the conference is primarily intended to benefit healthcare-related organizations, it is open to the public. The schedule of events includes:

9-9:30 a.m. Registration, networking

10:30 a.m. Panel I: Who are the uninsured and how do they affect our community?

10:30-10:45 a.m. Break and booth browsing

10:45-11:45 a.m. Panel II: Access to health care for men, women and seniors

11:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Lunch/booth browsing (lunch will be provided)

12:30-1:30 p.m. Panel III: Access to health care for children

1:30-2 p.m. Booth browsing

About Heart of Montgomery County
Heart of Montgomery County is a Collaborative consisting of 57 individuals, organizations, businesses, non-profit agencies and providers who share a common vision of accessible and affordable health care for every resident. Heart works in conjunction with other communities on cooperative methods of health care delivery. Its programs include the Provider Health Network, an access to care initiative; Friends for Life, a teen suicide prevention program; and the Medical Reserve Corps, a network of volunteers dedicated to ensuring hometown security. Please visit the Web site below for more information.