Senator Edwards calls on Carilion

More than 2-hundred people gathered tonight to launch their fight for affordable health care in the Roanoke Valley.
“Citizens Coalition for Responsible Healthcare” is a newly incorporated group of people who are concerned about Carilion’s impact on patients rights.
For more than an hour, members spoke out against Carilion—calling it a monopoly.
Several local lawmakers attended the meeting, including Senator John Edwards who called on Carilion to address the coalition’s concerns.
Sen. John Edwards says, “I’m hoping Carilion with sit down with this coalition and review their charges and review their collection practices and work to ameliorate some of the concerns the physicians have in the Roanoke Valley.“
Carilion did not have a representative there—but did issue a statement saying that it is not a monopoly and that its prices are lower than the state average.

——————————————
Hundreds of people are expected to voice their concerns about Carilion at a meeting tonight.
The newly incorporated “Citizens Coalition for Responsible Healthcare” is an offshoot of the physicians group “Coalition for Responsible Healthcare”.
The citizens group was created in response to the public’s reaction to the ‘Wall Street Journal’ article that claimed Carilion has created a health care monopoly in the Roanoke Valley.
Frank Cotter, M.D., of the Coalition of Responsible Healthcare says, “That’s why we have a citizen coalition, so that we can harness all the people who are outraged by this. we can organize ourselves, we can energize ourselves. and maybe the politicians, the people at Carilion, and everybody will start to listen.“
The meeting will be held at 7 tonight at the Ramada Inn on Franklin Road in Roanoke.
The public is encouraged to attend.