WHA’s Advocacy Day is four weeks away! This year's event will be held in-person at the Monona Terrace in Madison on Wednesday, April 19, 2023, and will feature former governors Jim Doyle and Tommy G. Thompson for a moderated discussion with WHA President and CEO Eric Borgerding. An announcement on the bipartisan legislative panel is coming soon. There is no cost to attend, but pre-registration is required. Register here.
WHA would like to remind advocates to sign up for the grassroots legislative visits as a part of this event. These visits are an opportunity to directly connect with your state lawmakers on health care issues and share your experiences in your hospital or health system.
“The legislative visits are the ‘Advocacy-in-Action’ part of WHA’s Advocacy Day event where advocates take the issues discussed at Advocacy Day directly to their state legislators,” said WHA Vice President of External Affairs Kari Hofer. “Your legislators want to hear from you. As citizen lobbyists, sharing your first-hand experiences from your hospital or health system can have a huge advocacy impact,” Hofer continued.
All legislative visits will take place at the state capitol at 2:15 p.m. and 3:00 p.m., following the formal Advocacy Day program. Transportation is provided. WHA staff schedule all legislative visits based on individuals' home address.
“If you’ve never participated in grassroots advocacy before, the legislative visits at Advocacy Day are a great way to dip your toe into advocacy. WHA will help prepare you for your meeting, and you will not be on your own—your peers and other health care advocates will be participating alongside you,” said Hofer.
WHA will host a pre-Advocacy Day webinar on April 12, 2023, at 1:00 p.m. to help advocates prepare for Advocacy Day and the legislative visits. The webinar will provide an overview of why these visits are important, how legislative visits work, the logistics of the state capitol and an overview of the issue topics WHA will ask you to discuss during your legislative appointments. Individuals can register for the live webinar here.
If you have already registered for Advocacy Day and want to add a legislative visit, or if you have any questions related to the legislative visits, contact WHA's Laurie Fleuette.