Documentary Filmmaker T.R. Reid Speaks on Fixing Health Care

Note to Editors: T.R. Reid is available for pre-event interviews on Tuesday, February 3. To speak with him, contact Dell Rae Moellenberg at 970-491-6009 or DellRae.Moellenberg@colostate.edu.

T.R. Reid, a correspondent for the Washington Post and producer and author of several documentaries and an upcoming book on the state of health care, will share his thoughts in Fort Collins on Thursday, Feb. 19.

Reid is also a commentator on National Public Radio and has filmed documentaries including "Sick Around the World" in 2008 and "Sick Around America," to be aired in April, which examines the critical choices Americans face and looks at a system which many people believe needs a complete overhaul. He will speak at Colorado State University’s Lory Student Center at noon on Feb. 19 and at 7 p.m. at the Fort Collins Marriott, 350 East Horsetooth.

During the noon talk, Reid will discuss "The Politics of Health Care, 2009: What I Learned While Filming PBS Documentaries." He will provide insights gained while filming the two documentaries.

In the evening discussion, "Traveling the World to Fix American Health Care," Reid will focus on health care in industrialized countries that he visited for the film, "Sick Around the World." He will describe three distinct health care models and what the United States can learn from each as we rebuild our own system. After the talk, three of Reid’s published books will be available for purchase and signing.

Both discussions are free and open to the public. Sprinkled throughout the talks will be Reid’s trademark entertaining perspective about the role of a journalist as observers and interpreters of social and political trends.

Reid’s talks are sponsored by Colorado State University’s Hartshorn Health Services, CSU Libraries, the Poudre Valley Health System Foundation, McKee Medical Center, Northern Colorado Rehabilitation Hospital and KUNC.

For more information, call Deb Morris, director of health promotions at Colorado State, at (970) 491-1723 or visit www.hartshorn.colostate.edu/TRReid/.  

Reid attended Princeton University, studying classics, and worked as a naval officer, teacher and several other jobs. At the Washington Post, he has covered Congress and four presidential campaigns. He served as bureau chief in London and in Tokyo. Reid has written and hosted documentary films for National Geographic TV, PBS and A&E network. He has written six books in English and three in Japanese. His latest book, "The United States of Europe," became a national bestseller in 2005. His tenth book, "The Healing of America," will be released in June by Penguin Press.

Reid lives in Denver and is the Rocky Mountain bureau chief for the Washington Post. He is a member of the board of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, the University of Colorado Medical School and a number of community organizations and schools. He has been married 36 years to attorney Margaret M. McMahon. They have three children.

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