EHSSENTIALS 2017 UCLA, a healthcare EHS symposium hosted by UCLA, kicked off this morning with a keynote talk by Dr. Alexander Li, Deputy Director of Care Transitions and System Integrations at the LA County Department of Health Services. The talk touched upon many issues with the status quo (or lack thereof) of the US healthcare industry today, and looked into a variety of potential solutions.

Acknowledging that the US healthcare industry consists of a perhaps excessive amount of money, Dr. Li's talk examined ways in which we may use these funds more efficiently, with the desired outcomes being to improve healthcare quality, reduce chronic illness and health disparities, and ensure financial stability for patients and organisations alike. One idea is to divert more of the overall healthcare budge to preventative measures such as environmental health, vaccines, and community outreach to at-risk populations is the best way to improve healthcare without increasing cost. Li ended his talk on a hopeful note, "Even in this time of crisis and uncertainty, there’s always room to make things better."