97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck speaks with Gary Collins of Piedmont Health Services, Dana Iglesias of UNC Family Medicine, Jean Phillips-Weiner of the Orange County Health Department, and Ciara Zachary of the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.
This hour focuses on the state of health care in 2025, both nationally and here in our community. Public health officials recently shifted their efforts to focus more on equity, working to identify and address health disparities and to ensure that everyone has access to high-quality healthcare. There’s now a widespread backlash against equity efforts – but the underlying concerns still remain. To what extent are health officials still focusing on equity? What is being done today to address those issues? And what, in general, is the state of health care in America today? What are the biggest challenges and obstacles, and what needs to be done to overcome them? Our four panelists weigh in from a variety of perspectives, ranging from research labs to clinical practices to local government agencies to community health centers.
The 2025 “Forum On The Hill” is presented by the Town of Chapel Hill, UNC Health, Wegmans, Coleman Merritt Murphy & Rainsford P.C., and The Law Office of Chris Barnes. Listen to the panels live on 97.9 The Hill WCHL the week of Dec. 8-12 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., or revisit them the day after on-demand at Chapelboro.com, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts!
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Equity in Health Care - December 11, 2025What is the state of health care today, both nationally and here in our community? And what needs to be done to address disparities?
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