Registration now open for APHA Midyear Meeting: Three-day Chicago meeting to explore health reform law
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* Michele Late

Excitement is building for APHA’s first Midyear Meeting, which will explore the implications of health reform on the nation’s public health programs.

Registration is now open online for the meeting, which will be held June 23–25 in Chicago. Focusing on “Implementing Health Reform: A Public Health Approach,” the APHA Midyear Meeting will include public health leaders from both the public and private sector discussing the intersection of reform with prevention, wellness and population-based health.

The meeting’s schedule, online now, includes sessions on the technological and fiscal implications of reform, impacts on the public health work force and legal challenges to reform. The meeting will also look at the importance of protecting public health programs, such as community-based “safety net” programs that have long been used to meet the health needs of low-income or uninsured patients. In addition, sessions will provide information on communicating about health reform to the public and policy-makers.

“Health reform is changing the way we in public health carry out our work to improve and protect the health of the public,” said APHA Executive Director Georges Benjamin, MD, FACP, FACEP (E), who will be a speaker at the Midyear Meeting. “Having the right tools and information to help us meet these new developments is crucial.”

## Midyear event is new kind of APHA meeting

APHA’s Midyear Meeting will have a different format than the one APHA Annual Meeting-goers are familiar with. The Midyear Meeting will take place in one location, the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers. Attendance at the Chicago meeting will be limited to about 1,000 participants and the event will focus solely on health reform.

![Figure1](http://www.thenationshealth.org/http://www.thenationshealth.org/content/nathealth/41/3/3.2/F1.medium.gif)

[Figure1](http://www.thenationshealth.org/content/41/3/3.2/F1)

The Chicago event will take place over three days, with four general sessions and focused breakout sessions. Sessions are being presented by invited speakers. Breakfast, lunch and refreshments are included on some days of the meeting.

Meeting participants will be able to earn continuing education credits in a variety of disciplines. A full list of continuing education opportunities is available on the meeting website.

Early-bird registration fees for the Midyear Meeting are in effect through April 15, and participants who meet the deadline can save up to $115. Travel discounts are also available. In addition to registration, housing is now open for the meeting.

The meeting is being presented by APHA and its partners, including the Association of Public Health Laboratories, Association of Schools of Public Health, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, National Association of County and City Health Officials, National Association of Local Boards of Health, Partnership for Prevention, Prevention Institute, Public Health Accreditation Board, Public Health Institute, Society for Public Health Education and Trust for America’s Health. Members of partner organizations receive a discount on registration.

For information on the APHA Midyear Meeting or to register and make housing reservations, visit [www.apha.org/midyear](http://www.apha.org/midyear). For questions, e-mail midyearmeeting{at}apha.org or call 202-777-2742.

*   Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association