Lydea Irwin, right, of Warren, lights a candle for Lise Holst, of Providence, during a candlelight vigil on the State House lawn, below, organized by MoveOn.org.

The Providence Journal / Glenn Osmundson

PROVIDENCE –– It was a different kind of meeting for the congressman.

Two weeks earlier, Rep. James R. Langevin had been shouted down and called a liar during a two-hour “town hall” meeting packed with opponents of the health-care overhaul moving through Congress.

Wednesday afternoon, he sat in the air-conditioned lobby of Women & Infants Hospital, surrounded by a sympathetic group of doctors and nurses who applauded politely after the five-term lawmaker said he’s “never been more optimistic than I am right now that we are finally going to change health care in America.”

“It’s nice to be in a room full of strong supporters of health-care reform,” Langevin told the smiling crowd. “This is a refreshing change.”

The event, organized by the Service Employees International Union, offered a glimpse into the coalition of labor unions, medical professionals and advocacy groups working to counter an aggressive opposition campaign that has largely dominated national news coverage in recent weeks.

“I wasn’t surprised that there was opposition. I was surprised by the intensity of it,” said SEIU’s national executive vice president, Mary Kay Henry, who has led similar rallies from Los Angeles to Orlando in recent weeks. “There’s a constituency growing that wants to take the debate back.”

Wednesday’s gathering featured representatives from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Rhode Island State Nurses Association, the New England Health Care Employees Union and the advocacy organization Ocean State Action, among others.

Later in the day, some of them also attended a candlelight vigil of about 100 people on the State House lawn organized by the national political organization, MoveOn.org, another key player in the coalition fighting for health-care change. There were hundreds of other vigils planned across the country last night.

“I’ve had to borrow money against my house to pay for my health care,” said MoveOn member Lisa Roseman Beade, a 64-year-old Pawtucket woman whose private insurance plan costs $415 each month and has a $3,000 deductible. “It’s really sad.”

Sitting in a lawn chair at the base of the State House steps, a candle in her left hand, Beade said that the critics have gone too far.

Donna M. Policastro agrees.

“We need to realize that we have more power than the opposition,” said Policastro, executive director of the Rhode Island State Nurses Association, at the afternoon event. “They’re negative. It’s myths, not facts. Nurses know the reality. We live it every day.”

So does Elizabeth Lange, a doctor with a private practice in East Providence and the president of the Rhode Island chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“The choices that my patients are forced to make due to their insurance plans, and lack thereof, are very disturbing,” she said.

Lange talked about a patient who skips annual “well child” exams because her family’s insurance covers checkups every other year. She talked about counseling a mother who was troubled by high deductibles. And she talked about a woman who couldn’t afford health insurance and took a drastic step.

“This week she told me that she figured out how to get health insurance,” Lange said. “She got pregnant and now is covered by RIte Care.”

“There is a better way. We need health-care reform, and we need it now,” she said.

Langevin will host his second and final scheduled town hall meeting from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Thursday at the Esplanade in Westerly’s Wilcox Park.

Despite the rowdy crowd at the first meeting, he said he enjoys discussing health care with his constituents.

“I like debate and dialogue, and I’ve never shied away from a challenge whether it’s in my personal life or in politics. This is not a time for any elected official to be sticking their head in the sand and being afraid to engage their constituents,” he said, declining to criticize the opposition.

“I’m not going to tell people what to say or how to say it,” he said. “They’re invited to come out and share their thoughts, their position on health care. I’d hope and ask that they’d be willing to listen.”

speoples@projo.com