Califano says 'Radical Surgery' can save American health care Ex-HEW head unveils new strategy at Tokai Healthcare Symposium.

PHILADELPHIA--(HealthWire)--Dec. 7, 1994--Real health care reform will occur only when Americans -- from providers to the public -- start treating the system itself like a failing patient in need of the most "radical surgery" possible.

That is the message delivered to the Second Annual Tokai Healthcare Symposium from Joseph Califano, the nation's former top health care official and now one of the country's most outspoken advocates for fundamental change.

Califano, the former secretary of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, told conference delegates gathered in Philadelphia's City Hall that the only way to achieve meaningful change will be to have every part of the process "move from an obsession with sick care to an obsession with health promotion."

Acknowledging that performing radical surgery on the health care system will be "delicate and dicey," Califano told the audience of providers, equipment manufacturers and policy analysts not to look toward the government and politicians to cure the patient.

"Each one of you has to be prepared to take a scalpel in hand," urged Califano, calling the failed Clinton health care proposal a "preposterously bureaucratic bill" that was not surprisingly DOA on Capitol Hill.

Warning against looking for political solutions to the health care crisis, he said, "Murphy's Law was written for health reform."

The sweeping Califano plan begins with a redirection of the focus of health care from sick care to health promotion.

In outlining his proposal, Califano said that Americans must reconsider a host of health care conventions, from the way it views death and dying to how it approaches addictive behaviors.

While opposed to euthanasia, Califano harshly criticized the government's approach to health care for the elderly, stating that, "We are filling out nursing homes while emptying our wallets." It is time, argued Califano, to rethink the "culture of dying" so that terminally ill, older Americans "do not have to deal with every extraordinary means to stay alive."

Radical surgery on the health care system includes intensifying pre-natal programs, education efforts, and rehabilitation for, among others, those addicted to drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. Prevention, asserted Califano, is far more effective and far less expensive than treatment.

Donald P. Campbell, president of Tokai Financial Services, host for the two-day symposium, said Califano and the other conference speakers greatly contributed to what he termed "a new and refreshing dialogue" on the health care debate.

"We are optimistic that market-driven health care reform is not only possible but probable," said Campbell, "and that the providers, manufacturers, and the public will be the ultimate beneficiaries of well-reasoned change."

Besides hearing from health care experts, the delegates met with Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell, who personally welcomed them to City Hall and hailed the symposium.

Tokai Financial Services, the leasing subsidiary of Tokai Bank Ltd., one of the world's largest financial institutions, is emerging as an industry leader in the leasing of sophisticated state-of-the-art medical equipment.

CONTACT: Tokai Financial Services

                      by
              Weightman Group, Philadelphia
              Sid Holmes or Kit Mercatoris, 215/977-1703