FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 25, 2016
CONTACT
Laura Maloney (Murphy) 202-228-1056
John Cummins (Cassidy) 202-224-5824
TOMORROW: MURPHY, CASSIDY TO HOST SENATE MENTAL HEALTH SUMMIT
Mental health experts, providers and advocates will discuss urgent need for comprehensive reform
Appearances by HELP Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.)
Event will be livestreamed here
**TOMORROW, Thursday, May 26, at 9:30am**
WASHINGTON — Tomorrow, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.), co-authors of the Mental Health Reform Act and members of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, will host a Senate Mental Health Summit featuring mental health experts, providers and advocates. The event will be livestreamed here.
“Congress must make fixing the broken mental health care system a priority before we break for the summer. With the bipartisan Mental Health Reform Act ready for a floor vote, we’re closer to taking meaningful action than we’ve been in decades. We cannot let up,” said Senators Murphy and Cassidy. “We hope this Summit reminds our colleagues what is at stake here, and encourages leaders of both parties to make the issue a priority before the 114th Congress comes to an end.”
Murphy and Cassidy first introduced the comprehensive, bipartisan Mental Health Reform Act of 2015 in August 2015. The Senators joined forces with HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) in introducing the Mental Health Reform Act of 2016 in March of this year. The bill passed unanimously out of the HELP Committee on March 16, 2016.
WHAT: Senate Mental Health Summit
WHEN: Thursday, May 26th from 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
WHERE: 902 Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, DC
Featured Panels & Speakers:
9:30 a.m. Welcome
Senators Chris Murphy and Bill Cassidy
Remarks by HELP Chairman Lamar Alexander and Ranking Member Patty Murray
9:50 a.m. What Does The Research Show About The Need For Action
Senator Chris Murphy
Ashish Jha, MD, MPH, Director, Harvard Global Health Institute
Ben Miller, PsyD, Assistant Professor, University of Colorado Department of Family Medicine
10:35 a.m. Provider Perspective on Mental Health Reform
Senator Bill Cassidy
Maria Oquendo, MD, Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical School
Gregory K. Fritz, MD, Professor of Psychiatry, Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Brown University School of Medicine
Marian Earls, MD, Director of Pediatric Programs for Community Care of North Carolina
11:30 a.m. The Price of Inaction
Hakeem Rahim, CEO, Live Breathe LLC
Greg Champagne, Sheriff, St. Charles Parish, LA
Peter Jacoby, MD, Saint Mary’s Hospital, Waterbury, CT
12:20 p.m. Keynote Remarks, Q&A: Virginia State Senator Creigh Deeds
Senator Deeds has represented the 25th District in the Senate of Virginia since December 2001. The National Alliance on Mental Illness honored Sen. Deeds with the Richard T. Greer Advocacy Award for his efforts to reform mental health, and the American Psychological Association Practice Organization named him the 2015 State Legislator of the Year Award. Deeds was featured on CBS’ 60 Minutes in which he discussed how the mental health system had failed his son, Gus, who stabbed Deeds and tragically took his own life in 2013.
1:20 p.m. Call to Action Press Conference following Summit
Senators Chris Murphy and Bill Cassidy
Advocates, including National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Sandy Hook Promise, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and the Eating Disorders Coalition