May 15, 2012
 
Searing receives a U.S. flag from Rep. Price.

Searing receives a U.S. flag from Rep. Price.

Adam Searing, adjunct faculty member in UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health’s Public Health Leadership Program and School alumnus, was honored earlier this month for his achievements as a leading health care advocate in North Carolina.

Named a “Champion of Change” by the White House in March, Searing received a U.S. flag that had once flown over the Capitol from U.S. Rep. David E. Price (N.C.) during a ceremony May 3.

“When you get that kind of national recognition, it’s a great feeling because not only is it recognition of the work you’ve done, but the work of the whole organization,” Searing said.

Searing teaches “Policy Development in Public Health Leadership” in the School’s Public Health Leadership Program. He received a Master of Public Health from the Department of Health Policy and Administration (now Management) and a law degree from Carolina’s law school, both in 1994.

Searing also received the Consumer Health Advocate of the Year Award from Families USA at its annual Health Action conference earlier this year. Families USA is a nonprofit and nonpartisan national organization that advocates for high-quality, affordable health care.

The awards recognize Searing’s outstanding contributions on behalf of U.S. health care consumers and his dedication to improving access to health care in North Carolina through his direction of the North Carolina Health Access Coalition at the N.C. Justice Center. Searing has fought for health plans and hospitals to remain nonprofit and community-focused, helped to implement expansions of the state Medicaid program and helped pass the state’s Children’s Health Insurance Program.

“Adam is the kind of advocate that my staff calls the ‘whole package’ in terms of consumer advocacy,” said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA. “When we work with Adam, we marvel at his innovative and creative use of media and online advocacy, his broad understanding of health care policy and his ability to bring it all together in coalition building.

“Implementing the new federal health law is both exciting and challenging at the same time,” Searing said in a recent blog post. “I’m proud to be a part of an organization playing a role at this historic moment.”

 
Searing said he also enjoys teaching. “Teaching at the school of public health keeps me in touch with the theory behind the practice; it helps me to be a stronger health care advocate,” Searing said.

 

 
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UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: Linda Kastleman, communications editor, (919) 966-8317 or linda_kastleman@unc.edu.

 

 

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