The conference will be held in the Jubilee Banquet Facility from 10 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. EST August 24 and can also be attended virtually. Continuing Education credits for Nurses and Social Workers are available. Tickets can be purchased for in-person attendance or virtual participation through THCC’s website or at this registration site: https://secure.everyaction.com/i6-MzC-n6kqZzjouzqDcCg2. Lunch and snacks will be provided for those attending in person.

Staci Lofton MPH, JD, Senior Director for Health Equity at Families USA, will deliver the keynote address, outlining the challenges to realizing health equity and describing promising federal and state advocacy efforts to overcome these barriers.  Four workshops will follow, each highlighting areas of persistent or growing health disparities in Tennessee: threats to maternal health care;  factors putting rural health access at risk; behavioral health care inequities for LGBTQIA+ communities in Tennessee; and the economics underlying racial/ethnic inequities in health outcomes. 

The closing panel will focus on conservative states’ approaches to Medicaid expansion and the benefits they have gained as a result. Carole Myers, PhD, RN, FAAN, will share analysis of how other states have handled issues that have prevented Medicaid expansion from moving forward in Tennessee. State Rep. Edward Buttrey of Montana, one of the architects of that state’s successful Health and Economic Livelihood Partnership (HELP) Act, will share its economic successes, and State Sen. John Horhn of Mississippi will discuss the status of state legislation to enact Medicaid expansion there. We are honored that Tennessee State Sen. Rebecca Duncan Massey will moderate the panel.