Here's Erik's post about his work trip to Washington, DC:
Monday, September 23, 2024
Earlier this spring, I got an email from work asking for volunteers to join the "Envision Advocacy Champions" program. Those who qualified would be taught how to lobby politicians and would be sent to DC for a couple days to meet with their representatives. It sounded like a good opportunity, so I applied. About a month or 2 later, I was informed that I had been chosen along with a few others from Arizona (Envision employs physicians all over the country). We had a few virtual meetings online where we were instructed how to approach politicians, how laws are made, and which upcoming laws will affect us as health care providers. Finally, they provided my itinerary complete with flights and a hotel stay.
I was able to skip work on Friday and catch an afternoon flight direct to DC. They gave me credits for 6 free Lyfts, so I didn't have to bother Amy to drive me to and from the airport. While I waited to board my flight, I ate a Cuban sandwich from Wildflower. I watched a few episodes of "How Great is Golf?" on the flight; I also started watching "American Sniper." Once in DC, I used another Lyft credit to me to Residence Inn. It was fairly late, but I was able to find a restaurant that was still open: Stan's. I ordered the crab cakes. It was a lot of food, and I couldn't finish it all. Good thing I didn't get dessert.
Crab cakes, broccoli, and a baked potato for dinner from Stan's Restaurant.
My training session didn't start until the afternoon, so I decided to take a quick tour of the town. It didn't seem like too far of a walk to get to the Jefferson Memorial, only 2 miles. I figured I could make it in less than the 4 hours I had available. Once I got there, I thought I could walk back to the hotel a different way and see the other memorials. In total, I ended up walking 6.5 miles over 3 hours. It was a little more than what I expected.
After sightseeing, I grabbed a sandwich from Jimmy John's for lunch. Then I made my way down to the hotel conference room for my training session. The first hour was just cocktails and mingling. I had a bottle of water and maybe a Sprite. Eventually, we took our seats for the presentations. They reminded us how to interact with politicians. We needed to make sure that we didn't accidentally set up any quid pro quo situations (ie telling them we would or wouldn't vote for them based on our interactions or telling them that we would or wouldn't donate to their campaign if they supported legislation). We learned that we would be advocating for reauthorization and refunding of the Dr. Lorna Breen Healthcare Providers Protection Act. It was used to grant money to organizations that research ways to decrease burnout for healthcare workers. One of the leaders of the Dr. Lorna Breen Healthcare Heroes foundation told us how they had implemented several initiatives at a few hospitals with the funding from the bill. The good news was that no one voted against the bill the first time, and no one was opposed to the bill this time. We were basically reminding everyone to pass the new bill since the funding will run out at the end of the year.
Walking past the Washington Monument
Looking at the Jefferson Memorial across the Tidal Basin
The statue of Thomas Jefferson accompanying some of his famous words in the memorial
The FDR Memorial was a bit different. It was spread out over a large area and included lots of waterfalls and forestry. The actual statue was also smaller than I expected.
It took me a bit to realize that Martin Luther King Jr. was carved into the back of this rock. I was distracted by the large wall behind him that had excerpts from his speeches.
The DC War Memorial is a small rotunda with the names of all the people from DC who served in the First World War.
It was sad to see the names of every American who died listed on the walls of the Korean War Memorial. The statues depicted a typical day for soldiers walking through the jungle.
The steps of the Lincoln Memorial (under construction) look out over the reflecting pool to the WWII Memorial, the Washington Monument, and the Capitol.
The Lincoln Memorial contained 2 of Abraham Lincoln's shortest speeches: the Gettysburg Address and his Second Inaugural Address.
Another sobering memorial, the Vietnam War Memorial, listed all Americans who died in that war chronologically.
Thinking of Grandpa Marion Raper serving in the Army Air Force
The World War II Memorial posted 1 star for every 100 American lives lost. This wasn't even half of the stars.
The south and north faces of the White House. Some people were going in past the security checkpoint, but I assumed that they were workers.
The roundabout just north of my hotel had access to the National City Christian Church and the Luther Place Memorial Church.
After the training, we changed clothes and got on a bus to go see the Washington Nationals baseball game against the Kansas City Royals. It had just stopped raining, so we didn't get wet watching the game. They had us sit in one of the suite areas that was just off the consessions stand. They said we could order whatever we wanted for dinner. I tried the fried calamari, black bean burger, and the soft pretzels. The game was pretty slow, so we mostly chatted. Finally, we took the bus back at the top of the 8th inning (half the group had already taken Ubers back to the hotel). Tomorrow, we would go to Capitol Hill and start lobbying.
The Nationals had no chance of making the playoffs, so the crowd was pretty small.
I got up and dressed in my suit before heading downstairs to the conference room for breakfast. I was placed in a group with 2 ER doctors from Phoenix, 1 anesthesiologist from Tucson, and 1 ER doctor from Las Vegas. We got into a larger Uber and headed to the House Office Building, just south of the Capitol Building. First, we stopped at Representative Ciscomani's office where our Tucson Anesthesiologist (Jennifer) lead the group discussion with the congressman's staffer. We didn't really meet any politicians; their staffers are the ones who know everything and brief them on legislation. The staffer seemed very supportive, and he mostly had questions about the future of the bill. It had been approved by committees in both the House and the Senate, and it only needed to be brought to the floor for a final vote.
Ready to leave the hotel to change some hearts and minds.
Left to right: Jennifer Parod, anesthesiologist from Tucson; Amy Axberg, ER doc from my hospital; Moneesh Bhow, ER doc from Banner University; Nehal Naik, ER doc from Las Vegas
Next, it was my turn. We went to Congresswoman Debbie Lesko's office. Luckily, I had met her a few years ago when her staffer invited me and several other Envision physicians to her office for a roundtable about our opposition to the No Surprises Act. We met with her staffer, Michael Bebo. I felt fairly nervous as I talked about why we were supporting the Healthcare Provider Protection Reauthorization. I mentioned that 3 surgeons who used to work at my hospital had taken their lives since I started working their 8 years ago. Everyone else added a few comments before I asked Michael that our ask is for Congresswoman Lesko to support the act's reauthorization and funding.
We didn't have other appointments for a while, so we found a hearing in another office building. It sounded like they were reviewing funding for the VA. The VA director and someone over accounting were answering the representatives' questions about the VA's budget and new programs. After listening to half a dozen representatives question the two women, we headed to Congressman David Schweikert's Office. The other two doctors from Phoenix took their turns leading the discussion with this staffer. Congressman Schweikert was actually in his office, so he spent a few minutes talking with us. We didn't talk about the bill that we were lobbying, but we did take some pictures with him.
In the basement of one of the House Office Buildings. Behind me is a tunnel for representatives to enter the Capitol Building. We weren't allowed in the Capitol since we didn't have an appointment.
Walking around the office building to our morning appointments.
Waiting outside of Congresswoman Lesko's Office
Several interviews were happening behind us in the rotunda.
Congressman Schweikert had to leave to change his 2-year-old's diaper.
There were barricades at the foot of the Capitol steps, and security guards were asking to see ID badges of anyone who tried to go in.
Waiting outside of Senator Kelly's office.
The Senate Office Building was much nicer than any of the three House Office Buildings. Each senate office has two stories, and there is a giant atrium in the middle of the building.
After visiting Senator Kelly's office, Amy Axberg and I had to leave to catch our flight back to Phoenix. We shared a Lyft back to the hotel to grab our bags. On the way to the airport, I asked her about her time as Chief of Staff at Sonoran Crossing Hospital. I'm currently Chair of Anesthesiology, and I've been encouraged to run for Chief of Staff. I'm not sure it's something I want to do. I grabbed a deli sandwich and some snacks before getting on the plane home. On the flight, I finished watching "American Sniper." I was able to use my final Lyft credit to get a ride from the airport back home.
That was quite an experience you had in Washington, DC. It's good that you took the opportunity to go there. It was quite a walk to see all the monuments, but that might be the best part of DC. I hope you were cheering for the KC Royals, one of my dad's favorite teams. I'm not sure those memorials were there when I went. It's good you found the one for Army Air Force. Great pictures!
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