Sara Ferne/The Lantern
Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jocelyn Elders spoke to an audience at the Buckeye Hall of Fame Café.
The room grew silent with anticipation as Dr. M. Joycelyn Elders, former U.S. Surgeon General and the first black woman to hold the position, stepped onto the stage Wednesday at the Buckeye Hall of Fame Café. Nearly every chair in the room was filled, anxious to hear Dr. Elders speak.
The Columbus Metropolitan Club, in partnership with The Ohio State College of Public Health, the Ohio Department of Health and Columbus Public Health, hosted the lecture, titles "The Politics of Public Health: What will the new administration's challenges be?"
The former Surgeon General, who served from 1993-1994, spoke for a little more than an hour. Audience members, who enjoyed lunch during the presentation, had the opportunity to ask Elders questions at the end of the lecture.
Throughout her talk, Elders focused on a variety of health care objectives that she said the future U.S. administration should strive to accomplish. However, the driving point of her lecture revolved around the immediate need for improved, holistic health education in the U.S.
"We need to have comprehensive public education in our schools from kindergarten through twelfth grade. We let our whole country ... worry about sex only, and not worry about good nutrition, not worry about obesity, not worry about exercise, not worry about all the things we have to do in health to be healthy," Elders said,
She elicited applause and laughter when she discussed the need for improved education with relevance to the prevention of diabetes and unwanted pregnancy.
In addition to her support for improved health education, Elders discussed the need to transform the present "sick-care system into a health care system" by focusing on prevention, quality of life and constant progression.
The lecture concluded with a piece of advice from Elders to the future administration, which displayed her passion for improving health care. "Dealing with the health issues of this country is like dancing with a bear ... when you're dancing with a bear, you can't get tired."
Afterward, the crowd of students, faculty, administration and public figures asked Elders questions related to her talk.
"I was very impressed (with the audience)," Dr. Elders said. "This was a very educated, informed audience. And the fact that (there were) so many people here for a public health lecture is very impressive and speaks well for this community."
With the presidential election approaching, the quartet of organizations that hosted the event was pleased to bring Elders to speak to the community on the topic of health care.
"Today, I think health care lacks a lot passion," said Jose Rodriguez, communications director for the Columbus Metropolitan Club. "And one of the reasons why we wanted Dr. Elders here is because there is no lack of passion in her. And that's really what we need to move the issue forward. So we wanted to bring her here to inspire people to have passion to care for others."
Elders' dedication, humor and experience made her an ideal candidate to discuss the issue.
"She's a wonderful speaker," said Andrew Campbell, director of programming for the Columbus Metropolitan Club. "Her whole focus on the issues of public health and access to public health are just very relevant right now, not just for us here in Columbus but across the nation ... she's not going to sit down until we all have access to health care."
Kristin Schmotzer can be reached at schmotzer.5@osu.edu
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