Gov. Gregoire addresses the Sea Mar Community Health Centers 2008

September 13, 2008

AS WRITTEN

Good evening, and thank you for the kind introduction.

First, congratulations to all of you celebrating the independence of your mother lands from Spain�

The thousands of:

�Mexican-Americans�

�Chilean-Americans�

� Guatemalan-Americans�

�Honduran-Americans�

�Salvadoran-Americans�

�Nicaraguan-Americans�

�And Costa Rican Americans�

You�re all here to celebrate your independence from Spain nearly two centuries ago.

Let�s hear it from everybody.

Viva Independence!

Viva Free Latin America!

It is exciting to be here tonight � and I hope you�re having a great Fiesta.

It warms my heart to see such a community of folks with common interests all coming together to celebrate freedom!

This evening, I�d like to take the opportunity to urge us to work for freedom from something else � something that right now oppresses way too many of us!

I�d like us to work for independence from an American health care system that favors the rich over the poor�and the healthy over the sick.

I�m working hard every day for that independence � For the day when:

�A child can go to the doctor to stay well instead of the emergency room because his or her parents have no insurance.

�And a hard-working Washington family doesn�t lose everything it owns to bankruptcy because somebody in the family had no health insurance and got very sick or had an accident.

I plan to make sure every kid in Washington � and I mean every kid -- has health care by 2010.

And we�ve made a heck of a start. We have added 84,000 more kids to our health care rolls since I took office, and we�re working hard right now to add thousands more.

But our state alone can�t do it. It will take action by the federal government to solve our national health care crisis.

In the meantime, thank God for the sponsor of this Fiesta -- Sea Mar Community Health Centers.

Let�s give Sea Mar a big round of applause!

Tell me, where would we be without Sea Mar? � Which provides health care to thousands of low-income Latino-Americans every single day.

This is Sea Mar�s 30th Anniversary!

For 30 years, Sea Mar has been a leader in providing health care and other services to low income residents of Washington.

And Sea Mar ranks well above the national average among community health centers in the number of low-income, uninsured patients it treats in Washington.

Sea Mar has a great and unique approach. Sea Mar treats the whole person -- medical, dental, and social services when needed.

That, my friends, makes Sea Mar an essential part of our state�s safety net, and for that I�m grateful and so are all Washingtonians.

Sea Mar is not only an essential part of this state's safety net and an essential part of our communities in Western Washington.

Sea Mar also has pioneered and serves as a role model for other health care providers in our state who serve minority communities.

And one place where Sea Mar really stands out? It is very smart in the way it serves patients.

Sea Mar uses cutting-edge information technology, and manages treatment for the sickest patients to benefit them while reducing emergency room trips.

I love Sea Mar�s focus on healthy choices to stay well.

I especially want to applaud and encourage everyone here to take advantage of, the free health screenings offered by Sea Mar as part of this festival.

I believe access to quality health care is the right of every Washingtonian and I will continue to work with Sea Mar and others to achieve this goal.

We are doing what we can � and we are calling on our federal government partners to help us solve this health care crisis.

Congratulations to all of you for the independence days of your motherlands. And congratulations to Sea Mar on its 30th Anniversary.

And most of all � Viva the Great State of Washington!

Thank you.