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October
2005—Issue
3
Editor House
of Delegates Officers: Denise
Johnson, RRT/ Debbie
Fox, MBA, RRT/ Robert
Milisch, RRT/Treasurer Thomas
Striplin, MEd, RRT, RPFT/Past Speaker |
In This Issue... | |
John Blewett Claude Dockter Denise Johnson
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Balancing Act John Blewett, RRT This marks the last issue of the AARC Record for this year, and it certainly has plenty to offer in the way of food for thought. Many of the authors touch on the devastation in the gulf coast region; the amazing efforts of all the health care professionals directly or indirectly affected by it, and the way the rank-and-file membership of the AARC has been so giving in their response. Personally, I was stunned by the outpouring of sympathy and financial support from the state societies of the AARC. The more I see, the prouder I become of the respiratory therapists of this country. Speaker Claude Dockter makes the point in his article that it is hard to look on the priorities of the House with any real vigor given the priorities of so many people affected by Katrina and Rita, and yet, as he points out, we do have other issues that need to be continually addressed. Frank Salvatore’s article offers a snapshot of where we are now, and where we really need to be with respect to the 435 plan. Secretary Debbie Fox gives us some hard facts (by state) on the participation in Capitol Connection—the AARC website providing an easy way for all respiratory therapists to participate in advocating for our profession to our national leaders. Speaker-elect Denise Johnson reminds us of the need for leadership in the House and Past Speaker Tom Striplin spends his last article for the Record recounting the strong ties we have with the BOD and the community. We must remain focused on all our priorities while putting assistance in any way we can to those in need on the front burner; the members and officers of the House are up to the task. Also in this issue is a report from the Chair of the Progress and Transition Committee, Garry Dukes, with survey results from the last meeting of the House of Delegates and from the Elections Committee chair, Karen Boyer, biographical information on those running for officer positions in the House. Please take a few minutes out of your day to read the important viewpoints expressed in this issue of the AARC Record. [Top] |
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“It Is Time to Help” Claude Dockter, RRT The disasters of this Hurricane season have left an impression tattooed in our memories. We as a society have been challenged. We as a society have responded and will continue to respond in the wake of the natural and man-made disasters we face now and in the future. The American spirit is one of survival. Our ancestors traveled many miles with only the clothes on there backs and a few dollars in their pockets. Through their sweat, tears and bravery they achieved success and with that same pioneer spirit we have the privilege take advantage of our own opportunities. I find it difficult to channel my energies to motivate the House of Delegates and the Affiliate leaders to address the needs of the profession. Those needs seem so trivial in the wake of the hurricanes and in the shadows of world events. I feel guilty knowing the suffering and what appear to be insurmountable odds to repair and replace. I may be a bit too philosophical, but in times like these one needs to dig deep and look for strength. In times like these we need to sow seeds of hope and offer help to those in need. It is in sowing the seeds of hope that I find purpose in motivating the House of Delegates and the Affiliate leaders to take action. It is because the changes we make today will create opportunities tomorrow. And those opportunities tomorrow may just have a direct impact on those who are suffering today and wondering about tomorrow. After the summer House of Delegates meeting I wrote to the Presidents and House of Delegates list serve with a highlight reel of items discussed. Some of those included...
Each of these represents its own opportunities for the Respiratory Care profession to continue to help those in need. As leaders of our profession these items need to be our focus for the future. When success is achieved opportunities for tomorrow are assured. I am very proud to be a Respiratory Therapist. I am very proud to be an AARC member. I am very proud to be a member of the House of Delegates. So please join me in taking action on 435, 964, and Membership. Let us plant a few seeds of hope for our profession and in the process help those in need. [Top] |
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Speaker-elect’s Report Denise Johnson, BS, RRT Greetings to all of my friends in the House of Delegates! Since we last saw each other in Orlando, many of you and our colleagues have been through a very difficult summer. There have been those directly affected by the devastation from the storms, those that have worked countless hours in their hospitals and home care to assist the sick and injured and the many who traveled to the southern areas to assist in these efforts. The outpouring of financial support from our state societies and individuals has been remarkable. But I am not surprised; this is what Respiratory Therapists do! As the saying goes, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going!” Once again, it has reminded me of how fortunate I have been to be a part of our giving and compassionate profession. My thoughts and prayers continue to be with all of you, especially in Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas as you begin the very difficult task of putting things back together. As speaker-elect, I have prepared my slate of committee chairs and have received acceptance from each of the chairs to take on the chair duties for 2006. I am now in the process of completing the membership of each of the committees and will have a recommendation for your approval at the end of the House meeting in San Antonio. I am also reviewing the committee charges at this time. I will be working with Claude to prepare the agenda for our December meeting. We plan to continue the close ties with John Hiser, Mike Runge and the rest of the BOD as we plan our meeting time together. We want to make certain that your time spent together is meaningful and productive. I plan to commit to a continued close alignment with the overall goals and objectives of the BOD and those, which President-elect Runge, proposes for the AARC BOD. I will use them to develop my goals for the HOD in 2006. I want to personally say thank you to all of you for your support you have given me this year as speaker-elect. Your willingness to step up to the plate this year and next is so appreciated. My new contact information is the following:
I encourage you to call or write me anytime. I look forward to seeing you soon. [Top] |
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Notes from the Secretary Debbie Fox, MBA, RRT-NPS After observing the devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita the past few weeks, the urge to reach out and help has been overwhelming. In reading the stories about the challenges faced by the hospitals and staff, I have been awed at their strength and resourcefulness. I am especially proud of my fellow Respiratory Therapists who stood by their patients, committed to provide the best care possible under dire circumstances. I’m sure we will all learn much from their experiences to improve our emergency preparedness programs. I am also proud of the Respiratory Therapy community that responded with contributions to the AARC Disaster Relief Fund to help out those RTs directly affected by the destruction. I would like to give you a brief update on the status of our political efforts since our meeting in Orlando. During that meeting, Frank Salvatore, Jerry Bridgers, Cam McLaughlin, myself and others asked Delegates and PACT leaders to work together to promote political awareness and involvement among the grassroots members. One measure we have available to assess our involvement is to look at statistics from the AARC Capitol Connection website. Of course this measure doesn’t include any other activities that may have occurred in your state, such as petitions, hand written letters or faxes, and doesn’t include emails sent directly to Congressional offices. I’m happy to report the utilization of the Capitol Connection is increasing. From January 1st to Sept. 28th of this year, 2,168 people sent 5,398 messages to their Congressmen. This includes the total messages sent in support of HR 964 Medicare Home Health benefit (2,993) and those sent in support of S1440 the Pulmonary Rehabilitation coverage act (1,397). Another 1,037 messages were sent by people who created their own messages, so we are unable to determine the subject matter of their email. It’s great to see those numbers increasing but I believe we can still do better. We need to motivate our members to use Capitol Connection. Only 2,168 people utilized this system! For example, in Kansas, only 30 RTs used the system and we have 21 Board members! Obviously someone isn’t helping out and pulling their political weight. They may be nodding their heads and telling me that they’ve written an email but unfortunately they have not followed through. Maybe a little competition between state affiliates is healthy, so here’s the Top 5 Performers on Capitol Connection as of September 29th:
Respiratory Care Week is an excellent opportunity for an email-writing campaign. At your next affiliate Board Meeting put out a challenge. See if you can improve your state’s numbers. Let’s try to reach a goal of 10,000 messages by the end of the year! After all, if Joan Loke, PACT Leader in Hawaii (120 members) can generate 247 emails from 74 people, surely we can all improve our numbers. If each affiliate sent 247 emails like Hawaii, the total would be over 12,000 emails! I ask every Delegate to send an email today, even if you’ve already sent an email this year. Ask your Congressman to sign on as a sponsor of HR 964. Ask your Senators to support or sponsor S1440. Include support for HR215/S473 in your note or in a separate email. Believe me, it takes that type of continued communication to get results. If you would like to see the statistics for your affiliate, here is a Capitol Connection report. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone in San Antonio and to another productive meeting.
*Total Activists reflects total unique activists per message; Grand Total reflects total unique activists for all messages. A user is any person in your Users and Lists database. There are special types of users: |
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Past Speaker’s Report Tom Striplin, MEd, RRT First, I would like to thank each and every House of Delegates member for the leadership and representation they have provided on behalf of the AARC and their state affiliates. I have enjoyed serving as a delegate, and my role in the speaker position was extremely rewarding. San Antonio will be my last House of Delegates meeting, and I wanted to be sure that I thanked all of the members and all of those who I have worked with over the past 8 years. The AARC has a very strong leadership base, both from the Board of Directors and the House of Delegates. Our organization and its membership should be proud of our achievements and we should all continue to work hard for the advancement of our profession. We are building a strong legislative voice and proactively networking to assure our patients have access to high quality respiratory care. In turn, we must continue to advocate for protocols and scientifically proven care methods, while at the same time advocating avoiding practices that damage our professional credibility. I am confident that our profession through exceptional leadership will continue to position us at the forefront of respiratory care. We are by far our best medicine and our own worst enemies at times. Our growing membership demonstrates that directed efforts can produce positive gains. I believe that we can succeed in the legislative arena as well, although our work will be twice as hard, but the payoff will be twice as rewarding. I look forward to seeing everyone in San Antonio. I wish you all the best for the future. I move on from the House of Delegates knowing that our profession is guided by the best minds and some of the most dedicated individuals I have ever met in my life. Thanks again for the opportunity to lead this fine group, it has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life!... [Top] |
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AARC House of Delegates Orlando, FL Garry Dukes, BS, RRT The results of the Effectiveness Survey conducted at the Orlando HOD meeting are listed below. 78% of the delegations returned surveys at the meeting. The average ranking for each statement and other comments received are listed below. If you have any questions, please contact me. Thank you to everyone who took the time to fill out and return the surveys. 4 – Strongly Agree 3 – Somewhat Agree 2 – Somewhat Disagree 1 – Strongly Disagree
Additional Comments: |
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AARC Government Affairs Report Frank Salvatore, Jr., BS, RRT, FAARC It has been a very exciting; laborious, and educational experience being a Committee Chair for the AARC. As Chair of the Government Affairs Committee our biggest charge was to fully implement a 435 plan. My hope is that by now every person reading this article knows what the 435 plan is. Even my son, who is 14 years old, now knows what the 435 plan is. I took the liberty of explaining it to him after he made the mistake of asking me how many Representatives there were in Congress? We continue to strive toward fully implementing the 435 plan, but there are still barriers to full implementation. One of the barriers has been a lack of reporting from some states. I am sure these states have been scrambling for the past ten (10) months to try to figure out where they stand. The ability to communicate quickly and effectively on a national level is the single most important factor in successfully implementing the 435 plan. Thanks to the efforts of many we have seen the number of un-reporting states drop from eleven (11) in April to five (5) here in October. Another barrier has been management’s philosophy of “doing more with less”. It is a fact that the PACT representatives and all who serve in one capacity or another here within the AARC are doing it “voluntarily”. In each of our worksites, the amount of work being asked of us by the employer who pays our bills has been increasing. I talk regularly to Jerry Bridgers in Mississippi, and his saying each time I talk to him is, “Frank, I am knee deep in alligators!” Now those of you who know Jerry, know that if he had the ability, he would shoot the alligator and have some nice meat stored up for the winter. But his words to me confirm that the demands of our employers is not only returning to, but also sustaining the “do more with less” environment. How can we truly implement and run a successful 435 plan voluntarily? The saying goes: “something’s going to give” and we will always be forced to place the volunteer work on the back burner. A third barrier is complacency. We have said this a lot this year, but what is it? Complacency – self-satisfaction accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies. Wow, that is a mouthful. Let’s take that apart, self-satisfaction – our rank and file therapists work primarily in a hospital, education or DME setting. In most cases they are comfortable and happy with what they do. Why should they get involved in being part of a 435 plan or even write letters to politicians? This is not in their “comfort” or “happy” zone. What about the other part of the definition? Unawareness of actual danger or deficiencies? What danger or deficiencies would occur if we didn’t have a 435 plan or advocate? That is the message that I am sure you all can answer, but the rank and file therapist can’t. That is why “complacency” is the perfect word for the third barrier to full implementation. All right, these are the barriers. What do we do now? First we need to come up with a way to fight the third barrier. I feel that we would get the most bangs for our buck by lighting a fire underneath the rank and file therapists. We need to get them to understand that issues we advocate for may not have an immediate impact on their job. They have to look at the issue as a whole and see the greater good. Take HR 964 as our example. It recognizes Respiratory Therapists under the Medicare Home Health Benefit. So what? They need to recognize that the impact on them is in regards to the care of their patients. Right now, if a patient needs respiratory care at home, a nurse or PT is recognized to provide it; if a nurse or a PT can provide such care at home, why not in your hospital? Catch my drift. So recognition of Respiratory Therapists within the structure of the government can only help us. The other issue is the fact that our patients need the right person doing the right job regardless of where they get the care. I personally worked with patients in their homes for three years while I was a contract therapist for the Danbury Visiting Nurse Association here in Connecticut. Every one of the patients I treated was grateful for the care they received in the home. Do you know who was the most appreciative? The nurses, they recognized that my knowledge of pulmonary disease and the treatment of those diseases enhanced the care that they were giving. They never once hesitated to call for a respiratory consultation in these patients and always ended a conversation with me using the words; “I am so glad we have this service and you available to us.” The VNA used other funds to pay for this service because it was not recognized or reimbursed. The one thing that came out of having this service was the Danbury VNA had the best quality outcomes and lowest readmission rates for pulmonary diseases both state and nationwide. What about the other two barriers to the 435 plan? Well the first barrier is very easy to fix, those states (and you know who you are!) need to give me some numbers. I can’t believe if you have a functional PACT committee that you don’t have at least one or two districts covered. We now have 58% or 254 out of 435 districts covered. That is awesome. I would like to see us at or above 75% before my term as Chair of this committee ends in December. The second barrier is hard to overcome. Your employer is your first allegiance, but we need to work on getting others involved who are very much like those of you who are reading this article. Every one of you has chosen to give more by being elected as Delegate or leader of your Chartered Affiliate. If there are more of your types involved in the PACT then even when they can only give 50% because of job requirement, there is someone else on the PACT who may be able to pick up the slack before their job asks more of them. If the PACT in your state is strong, then the 435 plan will flourish. The 435 plan, needs to run 365 days per year, 7 days per week, 24 hours per day. The 435 plan cannot and must not be associated with just one piece of legislation. We want to pass HR964, but there is also HR215, S1440 and many other bills that will advance the health and well being of our patients to advocate for. A 435 plan must be a living and breathing organism that can lie dormant when there is nothing big going on, but can roar to life and breathe fire when it needs to. You and the membership you represent are the lifeblood of this organism. Now is the time to rise to the occasion and get our 435 plan on track. Those states who have not reported, give me your numbers; the states who have only a partial plan in place, continue to work on moving your numbers to 100%. Those states that have 100% implementation, GREAT JOB, but know we need to sustain the coverage at 100%. For all the states, work the plan. Get those letters going and get your district reps to make visits to the Representatives when they are back in the district. What about holding medical town meetings in key districts where you bus in patients and therapists to meet with the Representative. Hold the bus; remember how I had a bill number S1440? Well, the Representatives know minimal about that bill right now until we get a companion bill in the House, so ask the Representative what they think about cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation coverage. See if they will introduce a companion bill or just gauge their feelings and write them down for when we do get a companion bill. Please contact your Senators to ask them to support S1440 and even sign on as co-sponsors. In closing, I want to thank President John Hiser for giving me the opportunity to serve our profession. I encourage all of you who are thinking about what it is like to rise above the state officer and board level to give service to the AARC a try. Whether it is as a Delegate or on an AARC or HOD committee, it is an experience you will not forget. If you have any questions regarding the 435 plan or the Government Affairs Committee please contact me at (203) 739-6440 or by email to frank.salvatore@danhosp.org. [Top] |
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Nominees for HOD Officer Positions
Debbie Fox—KS (Speaker-elect)
Bill Lamb—MO (Speaker-elect)
Faye Bacon—VT (Secretary) I am committed to meeting all of the expectations as Secretary for the House of Delegates. Should I be elected, I will do my best to serve the profession as an officer of the House of Delegates. Karen Boyer—ME (Secretary) To keep the general membership aware and involved
in the activities of the AARC. To get their input in the activities; Lynn Lenz—WI (Secretary) Complete all assigned duties in a timely and professional
manner. Sheri Peters—NY (Secretary) John Blewett—NM (Treasurer) As Treasurer, one (obvious) main goal would be to complete the normal charges for that office. Other goals would include:
Joe Horn—TX (Treasurer) To continue to remove barriers between the House and the AARC board in addition to the charges of the office of Treasurer. I think that there is much too much to accomplish and the House and the board could be so much more productive if we could remove the barriers and establish more trust between the two entities. Frank Salvatore, Jr.—CT (Treasurer)
Howard Derrick—MS (Treasurer) Gordy Gunderson—SD (Treasurer) Ed Thomas—AZ (Treasurer)
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