Guest guest Posted September 26, 2000 Report Share Posted September 26, 2000 I couldn't get a copy of the one on parasites, but I did get this one and the other article about Weil. Victoria >Boost to integrative medicine > > > > Sunday, 24 September 2000 > Boost to integrative medicine > > > Star file photo > Dr. Andrew Weil tomorrow will announce the formation of an >organization that he hopes will promote nationwide his alternative approach >to medicine, which he refers to as integrative medicine. > > > > Membership group to push Weil's message > > By Carla McClain > ARIZONA DAILY STAR > > Dr. Andrew Weil - founder of the concept of " integrative medicine, " >headquartered in Tucson - has formed a public membership organization to >take that movement nationwide. > > The new National Integrative Medicine Council is " a way to respond >to widespread consumer demand for this approach to health care, " Weil said. > > " There's a growing population of supporters of integrative medicine >who want to promote this movement and help it grow, and NIMC is a response >to that. " > > Weil plans to announce the formation of the council in a national >statement tomorrow. > > Defining integrative medicine as " the combination of the best ideas >and practices of conventional, complementary, alternative and >mind-body-spirit medicine, " Weil is known internationally for his wildly >popular books on this approach to health care. He put those ideas into >practice when he launched the Program in Integrative Medicine three years >ago at the University of Arizona. > > But the program's goal to treat patients and train physicians in >this specialty hit the financial ropes this year, when it ran $1 million >dollars in the red, forcing staff layoffs. The Integrative Medicine Clinic >has stopped accepting new patients at least until early next year. > > As a result, the program's fund-raising arm, the Foundation for >Integrative Medicine, has been dissolved for failing to raise enough >private funds and national recognition to keep it going. > > Instead, the University of Arizona Foundation, which raises funds >for the entire university, will now take over that job for the >integative-medicine program as well. > > " That's where we always thought it should have been, " Weil said in a >recent interview. " We should be working with the university in fund-raising >rather than in some competition with it. " > > It was this financial crisis - and the folding of the IM Foundation >- that triggered the birth of the new council, he said. Several of the >defunct foundation's former staff members are now organizing the new >membership council. > > The nonprofit NIMC will offer memberships to individuals, health >professionals, academic institutions and corporations, with different fee >levels to join, and benefit packages for all members. The membership fees >have not been set yet, said Matt Russell, executive director of the >council. > > " It's a way of demonstrating grass-roots support for a cause - the >cause of getting integrative medicine into our health- care system, " >Russell said. " With a membership behind us, we will develop the political >clout to do this. It's similar to how an organization like the Sierra Club >works. " > > Among the NIMC goals are getting insurance companies to cover valid >alternative therapies, including the integrative curriculum in medical >schools, and steering research funds toward studies of these therapies, >Russell said. > > * Contact Carla McClain at 806-7754 or cmcclain. > > >-------- > > > > > > _______________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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