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The Honorable Will Wynn, Austin Mayor, announces October 2, 2007, as 2nd HAAM Benefit Day with support of (l to r): Donna Butler, director of marketing, The Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort & Spa, Bastrop; Ashton Cumberbatch, VP industry & governmental relations, Seton Family of Hospitals; Dick Moeller, CEO, St. David’s Community Health Foundation; Edward Safady, Austin-area chairman, Prosperity Bank, and secretary of HAAM Board of Directors; country singer-songwriter Jessie Lee Miller, HAAM member-musician; and Lorin Jameson, Sony Online Entertainment
3,000 x 1,995 px

For Immediate Release
March 15, 2005

SETON, St. David's and SIMS Foundation
Create Health Alliance for Austin Musicians

New Initiative Will Provide Preventive Medical,
Dental and Mental Health Care Access

Austin, TX (Tues., Mar. 15, 2005) -- Austin's musicians often work long hours and late nights, juggling jobs, all to do what they love: play music for appreciative audiences. However, getting basic health services is a problem for many musicians in the "Live Music Capital of the World." Most working musicians don't have access to health insurance because they're self-employed, and without insurance, they can't afford preventive health care.

Joining forces, the city's two largest health care providers and a grass-roots provider of mental health services for musicians -- SETON, St. David's and the SIMS Foundation -- today announced an initiative to provide access to affordable health care for Austin's working musicians.

The new Health Alliance for Austin Musicians will offer the following:

• Primary care services through the Seton Healthcare Network
• Basic dental care through St. David's Foundation
• Mental health services through the SIMS Foundation

"Musicians need access to health care like everyone else, but it's been out of reach until now," said Asleep at the Wheel's Ray Benson, an Alliance board member. "This alliance has come together to make it affordable. Finally, musicians will have access to preventive health care and dental services, beyond the mental health services already provided by SIMS. There will be a place to turn to, for both body and mind."

"The time is right for supporting our musicians in this way," said Robin Shivers, Alliance board chair and long-time supporter of the music industry. "We are excited that our city's major health providers are stepping up to provide health care access for the musicians who do so much to bring visitors, dollars and international renown to our city." Alliance partners hope to see the scope of services grow as the Health Alliance gains momentum and financial support.

The music industry is an important contributor to Austin's economy and the city's national reputation as a creative center. Music brings in more than $616 million in economic activity and $11 million in local tax revenue, and it provides 11,200 jobs, according to a 2001 study by the City of Austin. Austin City Limits Festival and SXSW each bring millions of dollars to the city's economy and thousands of visitors from all over the world annually.

"Musicians are self-employed entrepreneurs and as small businesses have difficulty obtaining health insurance," said Benson. "Musicians often go without care, sometimes resorting to emergency room visits to take care of preventable medical problems. We hope that these services will make it possible for them to get care and to suffer less."

Access to health care is a national problem without a solution in sight. One in four Texans does not have health insurance. Alliance partners feel that Austin musicians can't wait for years for a national or state solution. They decided to tackle the problem and formed the Alliance with the goal of focusing on core services and growing the initiative over time.

A similar program exists in New Orleans, another city with a spotlight on music. Like the New Orleans program, Austin's initial focus is on wellness and prevention.

Seton Healthcare Network has begun by reserving 500 spots for musicians. The SIMS Foundation anticipates increasing its mental health services for musicians and their families. Already St. David's Foundation has begun providing basic dental care to Austin musicians aboard mobile dental vans, with services by St. David's staff dentists and additional support from volunteer dentists through the Capital Area Dental Society.

"We spend a lot of time traveling in vans and buses, so getting treated aboard a mobile dental van seems natural," said singer-songwriter Trish Murphy. "I'm really grateful these medical personnel are giving their time and talents so that musicians like me get the care we need at a cost we can afford." Murphy has been a professional musician in Austin since 1996.

"It just makes good business sense to provide care to a vital industry like the Austin music scene," said Betty Dunkerley, Austin City Council member. "We appreciate what the SIMS Foundation has done in recent years, and we're excited to see Austin's major health providers come forward to support our musicians. This is a true demonstration of how much Austinites care about their health and well-being."

"This is a way for Austin to give back to the musicians who have made our city the 'Live Music Capital of the World'," said John T. Kunz, an Alliance board member and the president of Waterloo Records & Video.

Musicians will be able to download eligibility applications as of April 18 at www.healthallianceforaustinmusicians.org or www.austinmusicianshealth.org. Applications will also be available at Waterloo Records, Musicmakers and Ruta Maya coffee shop.

Charter board members of the new Health Alliance for Austin Musicians are:

Lidia Agraz, vice president, Public and Government Affairs, Time Warner Cable
Gene Attal, president, The Seton Fund
Ray Benson, Asleep at the Wheel
Carol Clark, chief operating officer, St. David's Health Care System
Betty Dunkerley, Austin City Council, Place 4
John T. Kunz, president, Waterloo Records & Video
Mary Louise Lopez, executive director, SIMS Foundation
Diana Resnik, vice president of Community Care, Seton Healthcare Network
Edward Safady, Austin-area chairman of Prosperity Bank
Robin Shivers, the Shivers Group
Kammi Siemens, director of operations, St. David's Foundation Dental Program
Richard Topfer, Topfer Family Foundation
Jay Woods, president, SIMS Foundation, and vice president, New West Records

Contacts: Jill McGuckin, McGuckin Entertainment PR, 512.217.9404 cell; jill@mcguckinpr.com
Emily Erickson, SIMS Foundation, 512.472.1008; simsdev@austin.rr.com
Pam Crowther, SETON, 512.324.3170; pcrowther@seton.org
Carol Clark, St. David's Foundation, 512.370.4485; cclark@sdsys.org