Benton going to Cuba as part of Lt. Gov. Owen’s trade mission

OLYMPIA — Lt. Gov. Brad Owen’s office announced Friday that he is planning to lead a trade mission to Cuba in September.

Ken Camp, Owen’s chief of staff, said in an email that the trip is planned for Sept. 4-10 and that more than a dozen people will be part of the delegation. They plan to learn about the communist country’s health care system, ranging from the Ministry of Health to medical universities and local clinics.

An agenda has not yet been finalized because the Cuban government has to approve all of the meetings and interactions, Owen’s office said.

The delegation hopes to get a memorandum of understanding signed between the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana and the Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine.

Those in the delegation include: state Sens. Karen Keiser, Steve Conway, Don Benton, and John McCoy, whose wife, Janet, plans to join him. Benton and Conway are each bringing a legislative staffer, and Owen will bring a staffer as well. Also on the trip will be representatives from Washington State University, the state Department of Health, and the Washington state Hospital Association.

Camp said the cost for the mission is $4,000 per person and that the lieutenant governor’s office will not use state funds to pay for the trip. Camp said that part the cost paid by the individual delegates underwrites the cost of the lieutenant governor and his staffer.