Reedsburg Area Medical Center receives WHA’s Advocacy All-Star Award
On Wednesday, Reedsburg Area Medical Center received the Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) 2019 Advocacy All-Star Award at WHA’s annual Advocacy Day in Madison. Each year, WHA recognizes one hospital or health care system that exemplifies dedication to grassroots advocacy in partnership with WHA. Bob Van Meeteren, President and CEO of Reedsburg Area Medical Center and 2018 chair of the WHA Board of Directors, accepted this award before nearly 1,000 hospital supporters at Advocacy Day.
“Reedsburg Area Medical Center has been an outstanding advocacy partner with WHA,” said Eric Borgerding, WHA President and CEO. “We are a successful advocacy organization because of proactive policy development, effective lobbying, and actively engaged members like Reedsburg Area Medical Center.”
Van Meeteren acknowledged the support of Reedsburg Area Medical Center’s Board of Directors and senior administrative team in making the organization’s advocacy work possible. Several members of the board and senior team were in attendance.
“When I was told Reedsburg Area Medical Center would be receiving this award, I thought about everything that goes into advocacy. The fact that we have 1,000 people that attend this event each year, the many productive trips to Washington, D.C., the times we have hosted the Governor or legislators at our WHA meetings, how we are asked to testify in front of various legislative committees, the letters we are asked to review and sign…and the list goes on. None of this advocacy would be possible without the extremely talented team at WHA,” said Van Meeteren.
Reedsburg Area Medical Center actively participates on WHA’s Board, councils and work groups, attends advocacy events in Madison and Washington, D.C., engages directly with state and federal lawmakers back in their districts, and has shown strong growth in the number of new Hospitals Education & Advocacy Team (HEAT) members – a statewide network designed to facilitate grassroots involvement on state and federal issues that impact Wisconsin’s hospitals.
WHA’s Advocacy Day is the premier health care advocacy event in Madison with approximately 1,000 attendees representing nearly every hospital and health system in Wisconsin.
