The California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee regrets the passing and celebrates the life work of our friend Marilyn Clement--a true healthcare hero.
Marilyn was the founder of Healthcare-Now!, the healthcare advocacy organization, that for many years took the lead in fighting for guaranteed healthcare on the single-payer model. Healthcare Now became one of the founding members of the Leadership Conference on Guaranteed Healthcare, a group of progressives, healthcare workers, and labor activists dedicated to protecting Americans from the cruel and heartless insurance bureaucrats who inflict such tremendous pain on patients.
In recent months, as the healthcare reform bill has been developing, Marilyn and Healthcare Now have been brave and sometimes lonely voices protesting the insurers, and the deals they continue to cut from their Washington perch--individual mandates, the "public option," and all the other excuses for healthcare reform.
Memories of her written by Donna Smith are linked below...
Marilyn Clement, national coordinator for Healthcare-NOW, died this morning. We mourn her loss. She was an organizer for the ages, a friend, a mentor, and as of today, an angel.
Behind she leaves legions of single-payer healthcare activists who may not even know her name or her background or her struggle but who carry with them her passion for a just world where every human life is valued and protected and honored no matter his or her station in life, gender, color of skin, or name recognition potential. In a world gone mad for celebrity and status, Marilyn was a woman of peace and compassion for all. ...