Submitted by Lee Dobson, Area Director, NC Government Affairs (GAO)

Often we talk about sharing our message, making our point, and communicating our value proposition.  Those are things we, in the Government Affairs Office (GAO), must do as we seek support for our issues with lawmakers.  One such conversation was had with Representative Nelson Dollar earlier last week, where Chief Government Affairs Officer Dave Totaro and I thanked him for his past support on the rate increases and continued our conversation around our priorities for the year to come.

If we are to continue to be successful in building a strong advocacy base, it is not enough to build relationships with lawmakers.  We must also get to know our internal BAYADA customers–our staff and clients.  As such, we visited six home health offices on the I-85 corridor.  It was great to be able to provide a legislative update, share advocacy information, and solicit feedback.  It helps ground our efforts and put things into perspective.

Special thanks to Division Director Richard Hopson, Area Director Shad Morgheim, and the office directors for allowing us to visit. We really enjoyed visiting with staff at CV, CHF, GAV, CAV, SC, DAV, RV, and DRF.