CHI Gathers Biomedical Community for the California Healthcare Policy Forum

LA JOLLA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CHI-California Healthcare Institute tomorrow will gather opinion leaders from the science, business and public sectors to discuss opportunities and issues facing the biomedical community for the 2009 California Healthcare Policy Forum. The event will be held at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins San Francisco Hotel on Nov. 5 from 11:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

“With the healthcare reform debate intensifying in Washington, industry leaders and policy makers are focusing on how to improve quality and access to care for patients, while protecting future medical innovation,” said David L. Gollaher, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer, CHI.

The forum is designed to help attendees better understand healthcare reform and what it means to medical innovation in California, the birthplace of biotechnology. California’s biomedical community is made up of more than 2,000 biotechnology, medical device, diagnostics, and pharmaceutical companies, and public and private academic biomedical research organizations and employs more than 271,000 Californians.

Political leaders addressing the forum will include Attorney General Jerry Brown, California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner and Assemblymembers Nathan Fletcher and Jose Solorio. The forum will be moderated by futurist Ian Morrison, Ph.D., along with Gollaher. The forum will gather academic leaders including Alan M. Garber, M.D., Ph.D., director, Center for Health Policy and Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research, Stanford University, and A. Eugene Washington, M.D., M.Sc., executive vice chancellor and provost of University of California, San Francisco; and business leaders including Sharon Levine, M.D., associate executive medical director, The Permanente Medical Group; Mark D. Smith, M.D., M.B.A., president and CEO, California HealthCare Foundation; Michael Goldberg, partner, Mohr Davidow Ventures; Hans Bishop, president, specialty medicine, Bayer HealthCare LLC; Robert B. Hance, president, Abbott Vascular; Carl W. Hull, president and CEO, Gen-Probe Incorporated; Michael A. Mussallem, chairman and CEO, Edwards Lifesciences; and John C. Martin, Ph.D., chairman of the board and CEO, Gilead Sciences.

“The biomedical community is eager to work with policy makers to ensure that with the new healthcare reform legislation our industry will be able to deliver innovative treatments and continue to discover the medical breakthroughs of tomorrow,” said Martin, CHI’s chairman.

CHI thanks its sponsors: Platinum sponsor: Gilead Sciences, Gold sponsors: Sanofi-Aventis and Genentech, Silver sponsor: Baxter, Bronze sponsors: Exelixis, NuVasive and Edwards Lifesciences.

About CHI

CHI represents more than 250 leading biotechnology, medical device, diagnostics, and pharmaceutical companies, and public and private academic biomedical research organizations. CHI’s mission is to advance responsible public policies that foster medical innovation and promote scientific discovery. CHI’s Web site is www.chi.org.

CHI-California Healthcare Institute
Sarah Thailing, 619-994-1895
Thailing@chi.org