The following press release was issued by the Healthcare Georgia Foundation:

Healthcare Georgia Foundation today released Election Guide 2010: Georgia’s Gubernatorial Candidates Address Our State’s Most Critical Health Challenges. The election guide was conceived as a nonpartisan effort to inform Georgia voters about each gubernatorial candidate’s vision for better health and healthcare in Georgia. Visit the Healthcare Georgia Foundation website to download the guide.

In the context of health reform, the current economic downturn, declining state revenues, and a host of intractable health problems, Georgia’s gubernatorial candidates were invited to address issues such as child health, trauma care, mental health services, public health, and health insurance coverage. With the assistance of Mathews and Maxwell, Inc., a public affairs firm, the candidates’ positions, opinions, and policy perspectives were prepared and presented in the guide, precisely as they submitted them.

“As we see it, the 2010 gubernatorial election is a defining moment in the state’s efforts to improve the health of all Georgians,” said Dr. Gary Nelson, Healthcare Georgia Foundation president. “Because Georgia ranks at or near the bottom among states on numerous measures of health – principled, informed leadership has never been so urgently needed.”

With the release of Election Guide 2010, the Foundation believes Georgia voters will be much better informed about the state’s most pressing health challenges, and under the leadership of the state’s next Governor, hopefully open the door to new and innovative solutions.