What a wonderful "Single-Payer Summer Celebration" last week!! Over 200 guests came to the University Club to enjoy music, inspiring words and the enthusiastic company of single-payer advocates. We were treated to dinner music by Papa John Kolstad and his swing band, saw the premier of MUHCC's first video short (see below), and finished off the evening with stirring and soulful music by T Mychael Rambo and Thom West.   Senator Sharon Erickson-Ropes illustrated her commitment to the Minnesota Health Plan with stories from constituents of financial miseries resulting from their medical needs. Donna Smith, an organizer with the National Nurses United, offered a rousing national perspective, emphasizing that states must now lead the way toward single-payer health care. In her words, "Who among us knows exactly what the path (to single-payer) will be in the US? It might lead right through Minnesota or California or Maine or Vermont, well before it rolls in waves of insistent justice through Washington, DC." She lavished praise on the single-payer movement in Minnesota.   Thunderous applause and a standing ovation greeted Senator John Marty as he came forward to accept the first ever MUHCC Single-Payer Leadership Award. Senator Marty was acknowledged as "a special person, a legislative leader who has wholeheartedly embraced the cause of universal health care, effectively promoted it to the public and to legislators, and deeply inspired all of us."

Photos Top to Bottom: Donna Smith, keynote address; Lisa Nilles, Board Chair presenting the Single-Payer Leadership Award to Senator Marty ; T Mychael Rambo jazz performer.