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Hospital staff and invited guests are expected to make up the crowd this morning when Republican U.S. Sens. Richard Burr, John McCain and Mitch McConnell host a health care forum at Carolinas Medical Center.
The three senators will tour the Levine Children's Hospital near uptown Charlotte at 8:30a.m. and meet with employees, doctors and patients until 10. The event is nominally open but will take place in an auditorium that can seat only about 250 people.
“We have tremendous interest from our employees,” said hospital spokeswoman Gail Rosenburg. “We are such dominant players in this whole issue of reform that we're pleased to be able to have this event for our employees.”
McCain of Arizona and McConnell, the Senate minority leader from Kentucky, did a similar event in Kansas City on Monday with Missouri Republican Sen. Kit Bond.
Bond, like Burr, is up for election next year.
Missouri Democrats criticized the invitation-only event in their state. Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, who has held a series of town meetings on health care, took a dig at the Republican on Twitter last week.
“More townhalls on Monday. West Plains and Springfield. Open to public. Sens. Bond and McConnell having one in KC Mon but invitation only,” she tweeted.
Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan of North Carolina has held no town halls this recess, though she said she's met with people around the state.
