Health care workers from around Maryland are getting a taste of political work this summer, canvassing neighborhoods from Baltimore to Washington to talk to voters about health issues.
Quincy Gamble, political director of the Service Employees International Union, expects his members to have spoken to more than 30,000 voters by the end of Saturday. Already, they have gotten signatures from 12,000 voters who committed to vote on health care issues and continue monitoring those issues once candidates take office.
“After the energy crisis, health care is the No. 1 or No. 2 priority for most people,” Gamble said. “We?re trying to organize a constituency that will hold folks accountable beyond the election.”
The Healthcare Equity and Access Laws tour cooled its heels this week for the heat, but Saturday, it will work neighborhoods in Maryland?s 40th and 44th districts as well as the 3rd congressional district, he said. Then it will rally at the United Health Care Workers East, Maryland-D.C. Division Headquarters at 611 Eutaw St. in Baltimore.
The work has been rewarding and “sometimes funny,” said Carolyn Turner, 36, a geriatric nursing assistant who has volunteered with the tour. “You hear a lot of different stories. You meet a lot of people on a day-to-day basis.”
She said many of the older people she has talked to have complained about cutting back on their medications because they had to buy groceries, or being unable to see a doctor because they don?t have health care.
According to the Maryland Health Care for All Coalition, more than 800,000 Maryland residents are uninsured.
“This is just the beginning of our members? efforts,” said John Reid, executive vice president of the union. “We plan to keep knocking on doors and encouraging voters to elect candidates with a solid stance on health care right up to the November election.”
