by Janet Pelletier
Pleasanton Weekly Staff

Eighteenth District Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi (D-Castro Valley) will host a health care town hall meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday at ValleyCare Health System, 5555 W. Las Positas Blvd., Pleasanton.

The event, which will be held in the medical center's cafeteria, will last an hour and a half. It will be an opportunity for the community to hear directly from Hayashi, who sits on the Assembly Health Committee; learn about each of the various health care proposals being discussed in the state legislature and voice comments and concerns about the current state of health care.

"Health care reform is one of the leading issues facing the state legislature this session," Hayashi said. "For the 6.5 million Californians who lack health coverage at some point during the year, the situation is more daunting than ever. Health care coverage for all is the goal, how we get there is the topic discussion."

Hayashi will address several bills she has introduced in the legislature, such as one that seeks to form the Office of Suicide Prevention under the Department of Mental Health, and another seeking to bring more school-based health centers.

After the presentations, the audience will be able to ask a panel of health care experts to provide knowledge of a variety of health care topics. Panelists include: Richard Thomason of United Healthcare Workers, Dave Kears of the Alameda County Health Care Services, Sharon Cornu of Central Labor Council of Alameda County, Rudy Cockerham of Chabot College School of Nursing, ValleyCare CEO Marcy Feit and a representative from Kaiser Permanente.

"I encourage families, business owners, self-employed workers, seniors and hard-to-insure individuals to join us," Hayashi said. "I want to hear from the entire community about their needs, their experiences and their hopes for working together to solve this crisis in our state."