With a new administration getting ready to take office in Washington, D.C., two Corvallis churches are keeping up the drumbeat for health care reform with a series of documentaries on the subject.

The five films will be shown Sunday evenings at the First Presbyterian Church, 118 S.W. Eighth Ave., followed by encore presentations later in the week at St. Mary's Catholic Church, 501 N.W. 25th St.

All screenings are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. and are free. They will be followed by a discussion period.

The series is cosponsored by Mid-Valley Health Care Advocates and the Corvallis chapter of the Archimedes Movement.

"I guess you would say it's a matter of social justice. We need to take care of each other," said Lois Marie Zaerr, a member of the missions committee at the Presbyterian church who is also active in local health-care reform circles.

"It's a grass-roots effort, and what we're doing at the church is education."

The series kicks off this Sunday with a screening of "Health, Money and Fear," a meditation on the high cost of health care produced by Paul Hochfeld, an emergency room physician at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis.

Other films in the series are:

• "In Sickness and in Wealth," a production of California Newsreel. It's the opening segment of a seven-part documentary series titled "Unnatural Causes" that examines social inequities in the U.S. system of health care delivery.

• "Critical Condition," a "POV" documentary that chronicles the lives of four uninsured Americans as they battle chronic illness over a two-year span.

• "Sick Around the World," a "Frontline" production that looks at how other industrialized nations have confronted the health care dilemma.

• "The Unfinished Business of the baby Boom Generation: Health Care for the 21st Century," a videotaped speech delivered by former Gov. John Kitzhaber in March. Kitzhaber is the architect of the Oregon Health Plan and the founder of the Archimedes Movement, which is pushing for universal health care at the state and national levels.

"That is the primary thing that we want, equal access for everybody," said Zaerr, an Archimedes member.

Universal health insurance was a key part of Barack Obama's platform on the campaign trail, but it's been overshadowed in recent months by the spreading financial crisis.

But reformers still are hoping for quick action from the Obama administration.

"Some people think it won't happen until the next four years. But some people think that, just exactly because we're in this financial situation, we have to have health care reform now because it costs too much," said Zaerr.

"It's really scary, and politicians don't want to stick their necks out because it will cost money - but it will save money, too."

Bennett Hall can be reached at 758-9529 or bennett.hall@lee.net.