WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman G. K. Butterfield (NC-01) today will attend a series of meetings concerning healthcare at Duke University Hospital. Among the topics to be discussed are the challenges for hospital administration in the current fiscal climate, and federal funding for medical research. (Editors Note, I assume the afternoon referenced is 1/28/2013 as we received it on that day, at about 2pm.)
Butterfield will meet with Duke University Health System President and CEO Dr. Victor Dzau; Executive Vice President Dr. William Fulkerson, Jr.; Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer Kenneth Morris; Hospital President Kevin Sowers; and School of Medicine Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Dr. Nancy Andrews. The Congressman will also meet with Dr. Robert Joseph Lefkowitz, recipient of the 2012 Nobel Prize for Chemistry and the James B. Duke Professor of Biochemistry at the university.
“As Duke’s new congressional representative, and as a member of the House Health Subcommittee, I am confident that today’s meetings will better inform me of the needs of the local medical and healthcare community,” said Butterfield. “I look forward to working closely with Duke University Hospital and the Health System, particularly as we consider how to best address the challenges ahead.”
Earlier this month, Congressman Butterfield was appointed to serve on the influential House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health for the 113th Congress.
The Health Subcommittee has jurisdiction over a wide range of issues that are important to Duke and the state. Among those include Medicare and Medicaid, private health insurance, public health, hospital construction, health information technology, privacy, cyber security, medical malpractice, and drug abuse.
The Subcommittee also has oversight of the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, Indian Health Service, and the Department of Homeland Security.
The redrawn First Congressional District now encompasses 24 counties in eastern North Carolina, including parts of Durham and Franklin Counties.