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 Senate Appropriations Committee July 31 advanced the fiscal year 2026 appropriations bill for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services,…
Chairperson's File
Public
The recently enacted One Big Beautiful Bill Act will bring big changes to health care. AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack joined me for a Leadership Dialogue…
Headline
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee yesterday voted 12-11 along party lines to recommend the confirmation of Brian Christine, M.D., to…
Chairperson's File
Public
This month Congress enacted the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — a sweeping package that contained many of President Trump’s legislative priorities on taxes,…
Headline
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services July 15 issued a proposed rule that would increase Medicare hospital outpatient prospective payment system…
Headline
The AHA July 2 expressed support for the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act (H.R. 3890), bipartisan legislation that would add 14,000 Medicare-funded…