What: The December meeting of the Oak Ridge Reservation Health Effects Subcommittee (ORRHES) is on December 3 and 4, 2001. The meeting is open to the public.

Community members may address the subcommittee during public comment periods scheduled throughout the meeting. Additional opportunities for public comment may be provided after individual presentations if time permits.

During the meeting, subcommittee members will discuss the Public Health Assessment workgroup's evaluation of the scientific report Cancer Mortality Near Oak Ridge, by Joseph J. Mangano. The workgroup evaluated the report during an August workshop.

Leading the discussion about the report will be Dr. Lucy Peipins, assistant director for science in the Division of Health Studies at the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). This session is to assist members of the subcommittee in developing a systematic approach for evaluating epidemiologic studies.

Also on the meeting agenda is a presentation by Dr. Robert Jackson from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). He will discuss the needs and strategies for establishing community health centers. This presentation is scheduled for the morning of December 4. HRSA's mission is ensuring that underserved and vulnerable people receive adequate health care.

Additionally, researchers from George Washington University will discuss updating the community health education needs assessment. Plus, ATSDR representatives will continue a previous discussion about Tennessee's screening process for past chemical exposures and ATSDR's screening process.

Also scheduled are reports from each ORHHES work group: Agenda, Guidelines and Procedures, Communications and Outreach, Health Needs Assessment, ad hoc Mission Statement, and Public Health Assessment.

When: Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. on Monday, December 3. The meeting is from 8:00 a.m. until 6:15 p.m. On Tuesday, December 4, the meeting is from 8:00 a.m. until 5:15 p.m.

Where: The Oak Ridge Mall, Crown Conference Center, Cumberland Room (Suite 216), 333 Main Street, Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Background: The Oak Ridge Reservation Health Effects Subcommittee is a representative and knowledgeable body of citizens primarily from the Oak Ridge area. The subcommittee provides advice and recommendations to the director of CDC and the administrator of ATSDR on the selection, design, scope, prioritization, and adequacy of ATSDR and CDC public health activities and research connected with the Oak Ridge Reservation. The subcommittee works with private citizens, advocacy groups, state agencies, and federal agencies in the region and provides community members with an opportunity to communicate directly with national public health agencies.

For more information: For more information about the subcommittee or the meeting, please call LaFreta Dalton, toll free, at 1-888-42-ATSDR (1-888-422-8737), or Bill Murray, in ATSDR's Oak Ridge Field Office, at (865) 220-0295 in Oak Ridge.