• Editor's Note: Please submit calendar information for Utah businesses, events, seminars and conferences to gleong@heraldextra.com or fax it to 344-2985. Deadline for submission is the Wednesday of the week before publication.

TODAY

• Several community, farmworker and homeless health centers in Utah are joining local businesses, faith leaders, educators, health providers, community organizations and individuals to recognize Cover the Uninsured Week starting today through May 3. The program aims to galvanize public awareness about the need for affordable and reliable healthcare coverage. "Community Health Centers see the faces of the uninsured every day and know their stories," said Bette Vierra, executive director of the Association for Utah Community Health. "We are proud of the health centers' role in keeping the uninsured healthy and out of hospital emergency rooms by providing affordable and accessible healthcare. The tragedy is that for every uninsured patient we help, there are five other people who are sick and need life-saving specialty and inpatient care, or prescribed drugs and diagnostic tests, and don't have the insurance to cover it. That is why we are joining forces with other organizations to call for a solution to this healthcare crisis -- because health centers alone cannot solve the problems of the uninsured." According to the U. S. Census Bureau, 47 million people -- 15 percent of the total U.S. population -- are uninsured, including more than 9 million children. The Utah Department of Health 2007 Health Status Survey reports that an estimated 287,000 Utahns are uninsured, including 77,000 children.

In 2007, Utah's Community Health Centers provided comprehensive primary and preventive healthcare to approximately 59,708 of the total uninsured in the state. Community Health Centers are currently the "healthcare home" to one in five uninsured and one in three low-income uninsured men, women and children in Utah. The uninsured make up 61 percent of health center patients statewide, and more than 70 percent at health centers located along the heavily populated Wasatch Front.

While many healthcare issues will be mitigated through the development of affordable insurance coverage for residents, the Association for Utah Community Health believes that consideration must be given to the concurrent development of access to comprehensive primary and preventive healthcare homes. Development of healthcare homes now will provide access to high-quality and affordable services for low-income and medically underserved individuals and families. Without this investment, uninsured individuals continue to delay or forgo needed care, utilize costly emergency room/episodic care for primary care services, and create uncompensated care costs due to an inability to pay for services rendered. This dynamic will continue to distort the healthcare economy during the same period that reform efforts are attempting to stabilize and contain costs. As insurance coverage increases over subsequent years, newly insured individuals and families will continue to benefit from access to these same community-based healthcare homes. The availability of regular sources of care will overcome remaining barriers for newly insured populations, such as the geographically isolated, low-income, homeless and culturally diverse. For questions about other efforts to expand access to care for Utah residents, please contact Bette Vierra at (801) 716-4601 or at bettevierra@auch.org.

TUESDAY

• The Utah Valley Entrepreneurs' Forum; Omniture; the Open Source Technology Center at Novell; the Provo Business Development Corp.; Utah Science, Technology and Research; and the Utah Fund of Funds will host a free lecture series featuring speaker Josh Coates, who will discuss "Raising Capital: The Simple, Well-Understood Path." Make sure that the projected numbers for your startup tech venture work on paper before launching that business. Aim for a realistic 60-70 percent gross margin with a $500,000 contingency buffer. And don't put the task of raising capital before the operations of your business on your list of priorities. Time: 11:30 a.m.- 1:30 p.m. Location: Mountain View room, Novell Cafeteria, 1800 S. Novell Place, Provo. Please purchase your own lunch at the Novell cafeteria prior to these events. Contact Linda at lreed@novell.com or at (801) 705-9303 to reserve your place.

WEDNESDAY

• The Commission on Volunteers conference, "Service -- The Sweet Life" will feature speaker Jedd Medefind, deputy director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. He will discuss President Bush's efforts to strengthen America's nonprofits. As many as 350 charities, service groups and volunteers are expected to attend the conference. Previously, he served as chief of staff in the California State Legislature and led the California Community Renewal Project. Medefind has spent time in more than 30 countries and has served with aid and development groups in Guatemala, Bangladesh, the Kingdom of Lesotho and other countries. For a conference agenda, visit: www.volunteers.utah.gov. Time: Noon. Location: Provo Marriott Hotel, 101 W. 100 North, Provo.

FRIDAY

• The FundingUniverse will host a networking event for entrepreneurs, angel investors and service providers. "If you are an entrepreneur looking for partners, trying to raise angel capital, seeking feedback or searching out networking opportunities, you should be at this event," Brock Blake, CEO of FundingUniverse, said. "The LivePitch event will give entrepreneurs a chance to hear angel investors and entrepreneurial experts discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each business. Everyone in attendance will come away with a strong understanding of how they can improve their own businesses to make it more attractive to investors," Blake said. Location: Miller Business Innovation Center, Karen Gale Conference Center rooms Wasatch and Cottonwood. Time: 9 a.m.-10:30 a.m. Free. To register, please visit http://www.fundinguniverse.com/services/339/420/utah-livepitch-and-networking.html.