President Perry Terwelp presided over the club for an interesting meeting of football and healthcare. Exchangite Dan Brink brought as his guest, Jack Cornell of the NFL's Baltimore Ravens. Jack accepted an impromptu invitation to speak to the group about his experiences at the Ravens rookie camp last week. Jack feels he has a good chance to make the team after working out as an offensive guard, tackle and center. His versatility will certainly increase his chances. He did comment about the increased speed of the game at the NFL level. His rookie camp was filled with meetings and walk throughs. The Exchange Club is all pulling for this former QND and Illini standout to represent Quincy in the NFL. Good luck Jack!

Exchangite Bob Hays handled the introduction of our scheduled speaker, Brad Billings of Blessing Hospital, with dignity despite unknowingly having part of a napkin attached to his lip. Think its easy introing people to this club? Once the lip was cleared Brad Billings cleared his lips and began to talk about "Obama-Care" and its potential affects on the health care industry. The document in question is 1400 pages long and Brad did a great job of breaking down what was inside it. All 6200 hospitals, 700,000 physicians, and health care providers in America will be affected and it has forced Blessing Hospital to change its business model to accommodate it. The new roll will be to manage the health care of the population instead of waiting for the population to come to the hospital. In theory, hospitals will no longer be able to plan their budget the same way and the risk is that hospitals will no longer need as many employees as they currently employ as less people would be utilizing the hospital's services. Another concern according to Brad Billings was the merging of health care providers with other health systems forming a mega system. With this trend continuing, Brad sees about 14 or 15 mega systems controlling everything which would drive up costs. Also, according to Brad, this new law upheld by the Supreme Court will force the hiring of an additional 16,000 IRS agents to administer the law. That cost will also be passed on as well. Very interesting talk to say the least. Thanks Brad Billings for giving us something to think about. 

7/26 - Jared & Elizabeth Haugh celebrate an anniversary

7/27 - Chuck & Tracy Venvertloh celebrate an anniversary

8/4 - Certified Barbecue Judging Class (at ABVI)

8/13 - August Board Meeting at The Pier (11:45 a.m. start)

9/7-8 - Smoke on the River