Monday, May 16

Monday was our first full day in Stockholm and the first opportunity we had to learn about the health care system in Sweden. We visited with Erik Svanfelt of the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR). We spent a couple of hours with Erik as he explained his role, the role of SALAR, how health care is financed and administered throughout the country here, how government is organized, and he answered a number of questions. I was greatly impressed with the questions our group asked and their obvious preparation prior to coming. Even though we were experiencing jet lag and it was the afternoon, we all seemed to stay awake and pay attention. It didn't hurt that Erik gave us a break halfway through the discussion...and he offered us some tasty Swedish treats.

Pictured is Erik speaking to us all...you can see our Eric, Troy and Lisa in the picture.

SALAR is in a beautiful building and we visited on the top floor. It allowed for some great opportunities for photos. Here (below) is Lisa Nichols and Jeremy Conk taking advantage of the opporutnity.

The trip isn't only all work and no play...we took a short boat ride to Drottningholm Palace, one of the homes to the king and queen of Sweden. In fact, as we toured the palace, we were told that the king was coming shortly after our visit to have his photo taken. They were going to close the palace to visitors at that time. As it was, we were able to tour only a small portion of the palace, in which the royalty did not actually live.

Here are a few photos from the visit...

Above is the group getting ready to board the boat (in the background) that would take us to the palace. It was about a one-hour trip. The weather wasn't perfect, but we were lucky in that it seemed to rain when we were in doors and then clear up a bit when we were out of doors.

Below is Heather, Marcy, Jeremy, Stefanie, Meagan, and Eric on the boat ride.

Above...Ken outside the palace on the beautiful grounds...behind me is just a small portion of the entire grounds surrounding the palace. No pictures from inside, we weren't allowed. Below, Stefanie is about to take a picture of Nathan and Meagan.