For immediate use

Nov. 24, 1997 -- No. 883

Silberman named associate director at Sheps Center

By CAROLYN BUSSE

Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research

CHAPEL HILL -- Dr. Pam Silberman has been named associate director for policy analysis at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She will focus on consumer issues in health-care delivery.

"Pam is clearly one of the foremost authorities on public health law and health policy in North Carolina," Said Dr. Gordon H. DeFriese, center director. "She has earned high regard for her advocacy efforts in support of the rights and entitlements of consumers and patients of every age group. We are very proud that she will join the Sheps Center on a full-time basis."

Before joining the Sheps Center in 1995 as a research associate, Silberman, a lawyer with a doctorate in health policy and administration, was deputy director of the N.C. Health Planning Commission, where she worked on developing universal health care for state residents. Prior to that, she was the project director for the N.C. Health Access Coalition, a group of 140 organizations working on health-care reform from a consumer perspective. From 1983 to 1992, she was the public benefits and health law advocate for the N.C. Legal Services Resource Center.

A member of several state commissions addressing medical insurance, health-care access and indigent care, Silberman is a consultant to the N.C. Medical Society's Indigent Care Task Force and is a member of the N.C. Institute of Medicine. She has received several awards, such as the Kellogg National Fellowship Program, the Pioneer Award and the N.C. Perinatal Association's annual award for improving the health of North Carolina mothers and babies.

In 1994, Silberman was recognized by the N.C. Center for Public Policy Research as being one of the most influential lobbyists in the N.C. General Assembly. She co-wrote "A Consumer's Guide to Health Insurance and Health Programs in North Carolina.".

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Sheps Center contact: Carolyn Busse, 919-966-3847

News Services print contact: Karen Stinneford

News Services broadcast contact: Karen Moon