On Tuesday, September 22, APTS hosted the first ever Public Television Health Education Showcase on Capitol Hill. The showcase boasted exhibits and representatives from 18 stations across the country where lawmakers and their staffs learned about the role public television is already playing in health education and disease prevention. Speaking at the event were Larry Sidman, APTS President and CEO, Dr. Louis Sullivan, former Secretary of Health and Human Services and chair of the board of Public Broadcasting Atlanta, David Brancaccio, host and senior editor of NOW on PBS, Carmen DiRienzo, President and CEO, V-me Media, and VJ McAleer, Senior Vice President Production and Community Partnerships, WTTW.

Each of the 18 public television stations present had an exhibit to showcase the essential role that public broadcasting plays in promoting wellness and preventing disease prevention. Through video programming, exciting on-line, interactive content and on-the-ground partnerships with health care facilities in communities all across our great land, local public television stations, with their ubiquitous reach and unmatched trust, can and should be viewed as health care educators and enablers. Public broadcasting’s role is particularly important in serving the most vulnerable members of our society—communities of color, Spanish speaking communities and the poor—who suffer the ill effects of preventable diseases in disproportionate numbers. Events like this emphasis the localism in public broadcasting and the significant services that our stations provide to all Americans.

To read APTS President and CEO Larry Sidman’s remarks at the Public Television Health Education Showcase, click here.

Below are the 18 public television stations which participated in the health showcase.