WHA Advocacy Day 2018
More than 1,000 hospital leaders, employees, trustees and volunteers, including six from Gundersen Boscobel Area Hospital and Clinics, descended on Madison on March 21 to participate in the Wisconsin Hospital Association's (WHA) Advocacy Day event. Advocacy Day is an annual event that connects hospital supporters from across the state with their legislators in Madison so lawmakers can learn how issues impact local hospitals and communities.
"We look forward to Advocacy Day each year," says David Hartberg, chief executive officer, Gundersen Boscobel. "Our leaders, Board members and volunteers come together with their peers from across the state to help arm our legislators with necessary input on key topics. This helps us keep our communities healthy and strong."
Gundersen Boscobel representatives and their peers heard from the always popular bipartisan state legislative panel of State Senator Patrick Testin (R-Stevens Point), State Senator Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton), State Representative Joe Sanfelippo (R-New Berlin) and State Representative Debra Kolste (D-Janesville). Advocacy Day attendees also heard from morning keynote speaker Mara Liasson, national political correspondent for NPR. Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch provided luncheon keynote remarks and touted Wisconsin's high-quality health care.
This year more than 600 attendees spent time in the afternoon meeting with elected officials in the State Capitol. Attendees urged legislators to improve the state's Medicaid reimbursement for hospitals and continue efforts to strengthen Wisconsin's high-quality health care workforce. Advocates made sure their legislators were aware of the role hospitals play in communities across the state in providing high quality, high value health care and how the legislature can support those efforts through the policies it enacts.