Despite the wonderful achievements made in healthcare, there's much work to be done.

Few things have a greater impact on Real Family Security than access to health care. It influences where we choose to live and work. It impacts our ability to care for our loved ones as they age and the ability to ensure a healthy and promising future for our children.

I believe quality health care should be affordable and accessible for each of our citizens. I believe our society can afford to help the least among us, who can't care for themselves. I believe it is a shame that in this great land of ours, many people can't get health care until they arrive at the emergency room.

I support investments in programs that promote healthy lifestyles, from infancy to old age, including investments in community recreation facilities for citizens of all ages. It is my belief that investing in preventative healthcare is our wisest long-term strategy. This includes advancing our region as the leader for North Carolina in Wellness and Aging Research.

I will work for progressive, comprehensive tort reform that reduces medical liability by encouraging our medical and legal systems to rise to higher accountability and responsibility with a focus on better outcomes for all. I will argue that caps on non-economic damages are a reasonable part of the doctor/patient relationship.

I support greater flexibility in employee health care coverage, and I support state incentives to encourage small businesses to cover their employees with health insurance. I will back our own state employee health care coverage and hold it up as a model for others.

With the broad experience of being a spouse of a dedicated physician, as architect and community campaign chairman for the Haywood Regional Medical Center's Health and Fitness Center, and as a Hospital Foundation board member, I am deeply committed to health, health care, and the healthcare economy - all critical aspects for a brighter future here in the mountains.

What Matters: Jobs | Education | Healthcare

Quality healthcare should be affordable and accessible for each of our citizens.

Few things have a greater impact on Real Family Security than access to health care.

As your senator, Joe Sam Queen has...

• Secured $100 million to establish the NC Center on Health and Aging

• Voted to provide funding to make North Carolina a national leader in cancer research

• Supported program to expand the number of children of working families eligible for health coverage

• Led the successful effort to save Haywood Regional Medical Center