Health care is top concern at Quad-Cities Interfaith leadership assembly

By Mary Louise Speer | Saturday, March 15, 2008

Representatives from area faith communities explored ways to address health care during this week’s Quad-Cities Interfaith leadership assembly at St. Mark Evangelical Lutheran Church, Davenport.

Quad-Cities Interfaith, is an organization of congregations and community groups who meet together to build local leadership and address community issues in Illinois and Iowa.

Health care is an issue being debated and discussed both at the national and state levels in 2008. Q-C Interfaith views this as a concern of the faith community as well as at the legislative level.

“We’ve got to get the message out that this is a moral issue,” said the Rev. Ron Stewart, president of Quad-Cities Interfaith and pastor of Broadway Presbyterian Church, Rock Island.

Iowa state senators are considering a bill that would expand health insurance coverage for all and improve the delivery of health care in Iowa, executive director Leslie

Kilgannon said.

“I want to get people covered now with something that

is good,” said participant

Karen Metcalf.

Kirsten Running-Marquardt, associate director of Iowa for Health Care/SEIU, suggested that the Health Care task force could create an education piece to put in church bulletins and educate people about those

programs.

The city desk can be contacted at (563) 383-2450 or newsroom@qctimes.com.