It's always important to bring the issue back to the patient, said Sarah Lechner, senior vice president and chief of external affairs for Hackensack Meridian Health, during a Q&A about building relationships with elected officials when advocating for hospitals and health systems at AHA's 2024 Annual Meeting April 14-16. Lechner, along with Jeremy Nordquist, president of the Nebraska Hospital Association, said early engagement, hosting site visits, crafting tailored messages with specific asks, and being reciprocal are key elements to establishing effective relationships with legislators.

"It has to start as early as possible," Nordquist said. "Politicians make decisions on a lot of different factors when it comes to help with [favorable] votes. … So, spending time working on yourself, and certainly working with your state associations to think through who and how you can plug in to people who are in office."
 

Related News Articles

Headline
The AHA shared a series of proposals to strengthen rural health care with the Senate Finance Committee for a hearing May 16 titled, “Rural Health Care:…
Headline
The House May 15 passed legislation reauthorizing the Emergency Medical Services for Children Program (H.R. 6960) for an additional five years, providing…
Headline
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health May 16 passed a number of bills during a markup session, including AHA-supported legislation. The…
Perspective
Hospitals hold an extraordinary place in our society by offering comfort and caring to all who walk through their doors, regardless of ability to pay.While the…
Headline
AHA submitted a statement May 8 to the House Ways and Means Committee for a markup session on proposed legislation impacting telehealth access for patients and…
Headline
Mounting pressures on the health care workforce have created a crisis with short-term staffing shortages and a long-range picture of an unfulfilled talent…