WSHA’s 2024 Advocacy Day was Tuesday, and we want to thank all of our members who attended to discuss the issues facing hospitals with legislators.
We had 109 members representing 55 hospitals in a total of 111 meetings with legislative offices. Getting face time with legislators and making sure they understand our priorities is crucial work for the future of health care in our state.
WSHA’s top budget priorities this session focus on increasing post-acute care for complex-discharge patients, improving timeliness of guardianship proceedings and availability of guardians for hospitalized patients and supporting low-volume hospital labor and delivery. Our top policy priorities focus on ensuring access to care is not threatened by reductions in payments to hospitals, allowing hospitals to continue to merge and affiliate to maintain access to care in their communities and supporting innovations to improve workforce shortages. Several high-priority bills have already had public hearings at the committee level.
Thank you again to everyone who attended, and we will keep you updated as our work continues and we see the fruit of our efforts. If you haven’t already, we encourage you to sign up for our Inside Olympia newsletter and our advocacy network. These are the primary vehicles we will use throughout session to keep you informed of the latest updates and opportunities to get involved.
Sincerely,
Jacqueline Barton True
WSHA Vice President, Advocacy and Rural Health
