LEWISTON — “Health Reform and Public Health in Maine,” the fifth installment of a six-part mini-medical school educational series sponsored by Central Maine Medical Center and the Central Maine Heart and Vascular Institute, will be presented on Wednesday, Nov. 3.

The four most common chronic diseases – cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic lung disease and diabetes – cost Maine about $2.5 billion per year in health care costs. Dora Anne Mills, M.D., director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, will discuss the public cost of chronic disease, allocation of health care resources and how public policy addresses health issues.

She will make her presentation from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at G65 Pettengill Hall, Bates College.

The final installment of the series, set for Wednesday, Nov. 10, will be “Better Care, Lower Cost,” with Edmund Claxton Jr., M.D., of the Central Maine Family Medicine Residency Program.

To register or for more information, call 795-8448 or e-mail prevention@cmhc.org.

The presentations are being offered at no charge. Interpreter services are available upon advance request.