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Walking and Talking with a Senator

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October 25, 2013

Respitory Care Week in Kansas

AARC members at Newman Regional Health in Emporia, KS, enjoyed a great Respiratory Care Week last week, but one thing they didn’t plan on was a visit from U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS).

When Department Director Karen Schell, DHSc, RRT-NPS, RPFT, RPSGT, found out he’d be touring the facility, though, she went straight to her administrators to ask if she could get a few moments of his time to educate him about HR 2619, the Medicare Respiratory Therapist Access Act.

The answer was yes—as long as Schell didn’t mind having her few moments while walking with the Senator as he made his way from one area of the hospital to another.

“I had about three minutes with him to cover our talking points and give him a copy of the bill and our one page fact sheet with my contact information for him to read on the plane,” says Schell.

Three minutes doesn’t sound like a whole lot of time, but Schell says it was enough to let Sen. Moran know the bill is on the table and to explain how it can help improve care for cardiopulmonary patients. “It was awesome!” says the AARC member.

Now that the government shutdown is behind us, members of Congress are refocusing their efforts on legislation important to their constituents back home. That makes now a great time for all of us to write our members of Congress in support of HR 2619—or even do what Karen Schell did and go the extra mile to arrange a face-to-face meeting if the opportunity arises.