Shifting the Numbers

A presentation about North Carolina’s health care realities and how we can address the growing needs of our state

I have the great privilege of being able to talk with health care providers, patients and their families all across North Carolina. One of the most common themes of discussion centers around the current and future state of North Carolina’s health care system.

The realities of the health care challenges we face confront us every day. In 2006, more than 17,000 North Carolinians died of cancer, and more than 17,000 died of heart disease. Forty thousand new cases of cancer will be diagnosed this year, and over the next 40 years, that number will double. In addition, North Carolina’s population is growing faster than most other states in the country. By 2030, approximately 13 million people will call our state home. Almost 15 percent of our fellow citizens live at or below the poverty line.

As a leading academic medical center, UNC Health Care has a mission to provide care statewide, train the next generation of health professionals and discover new treatments and cures. We created this presentation to paint a picture of the challenges we face and the work we are doing to address them today, and to describe the collective effort required to meet the needs of a changing and growing state.

I will make this presentation around our state in the coming months because I believe it will take all of us – every health care provider, every elected official, every business leader and every citizen – to rise to the challenge before us. We need to begin this conversation now, and we need to address these growing health care realities with more doctors, research, facilities, medical education and technology.

Presentation schedule:

• October 7, 2008 – UNC School of Medicine faculty meeting at 4:45 p.m. in the Medical Biomolecular Research Building
• October 21, 2008 – UNC Leadership Development presentation at 8:30 a.m. at the Carolina Club
• March 11, 2009 – Coastal AHEC at 8 a.m.
• March 24, 2009 – Piedmont Health Coalition, Inc. 2009 NC Employers’ Summit on Health at 2:45 p.m.
• March 27, 2009 – Mountain AHEC at 8 a.m.
• May 20, 2009 – Charlotte Chamber Health Summit at 8:10 a.m.
• August 27, 2009 – Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce Annual Planning Retreat at the Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst, N.C. at 8 a.m.