Mental Health Care Suffering From State Budget Cuts

CHICAGO, Aug. 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Across the country, weak economic conditions are forcing budget cuts to state-assisted mental and physical health care facilities and services. Grants have all but dried up for local mental health centers, necessitating service cuts for the patients who need them the most.

On Monday, August 23 at 6:00 p.m., Chicago Access Network (CAN-TV), Channel 21, will air a live call-in program, "Community Health," which will focus on how state budget cuts are affecting health care services within our communities.

Host Lenore Janecek, president and founder of SAVE THE PATIENT, and Nancy Churchill, board member and former Coordinator of the 13th Judicial Circuit Family Violence Prevention Council (recently laid-off), will discuss how recent draconian cuts have reduced the critical social services for in-need children and families, offering suggestions as to how to work within your community to find solutions.

Viewers are encouraged to join in the program, by calling in their questions. To access its website, go to www.savethepatient.org.

For additional information call: CAN-TV at 312-738-1400, email: savethepatient@aol.com. Check local cable television listings for scheduled air times.

Lenore Janecek is a nationally known health care expert, patient advocate and author, who founded SAVE THE PATIENT, a not-for-profit patient advocacy organization, in 2001. To access its website, go to www.savethepatient.org .

SAVE THE PATIENT is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the support and education of individuals on health care matters. Founded in 2001 to fulfill the need for a non-biased, non-commercial community based non-profit organization to educate, inform, and empower patients as they attempt to make sound health care decisions, SAVE THE PATIENT provides information and education through patient advocacy, community outreach, educational seminars and its signature tool: the Health Caring Card.