Andrew Schorr, a 13-year leukemia survivor and founder of Mercer Island’s Patient Power, LLC, will host a town meeting devoted to “How to be a Powerful Patient” on the afternoon of Sunday, Nov. 15. The town meeting runs from 2-5 p.m. at the Community Center at Mercer View. The event is free. Twenty-three nonprofit organizations, including AARP, UW Medicine and the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, have joined as partners. Other partners include the Arthritis Foundation, The American Diabetes Association, the National MS Society, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the Alzheimer’s Association.

According to Dr. Peter McGough, head of UW Medicine’s neighborhood clinics, such health care consumer training provides critical skills these days.

“Our system does its best to meet many needs of patients and their families. But we need them to play a key role,” he said. “We want them to feel in control. This event is a great first step for people around Seattle that we should duplicate across the country.”

With health care reform legislation pending in the nation’s capital and health care insurance potentially extended to millions more, the tips being shared at the town meeting, which will be posted online at patientpower.info, can have “survival skills” for a wide audience.

For more information, go to www.patientpower.info.