Health care professionals showed great excitement to return for the first in-person PHPN Advocacy Day since 2019. Advocacy Day marked the start of PHA’s Pulmonary Hypertension Professional Network Symposium.

Guided by Pulmonary Hypertension Association staff, 81 advocates visited more than 40 Senate offices on Capitol Hill. The advocates were passionate, and their energy was palpable on the buses as they traveled to the Capitol on Sept. 28.

“This is the most impactful way to reach people, much more than sitting on the phone with the insurance company,” said PHPN Chair Elect Melissa Magness, CNP, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

During the meetings, providers related their patients’ stories to legislative staff members, and the staffers listened. Staff from many offices especially expressed interest in the upcoming supplemental oxygen access legislation. Oxygen access has remained a strong topic of interest for the PH community, and many health care professionals were thrilled at the chance to bring this topic into focus for their elected officials.

“[Advocacy Day is] a productive outlet for provider fatigue,” said Mindy Rivera, clinical nurse specialist, Cleveland Clinic. “Providers witness their patients’ heartbreak, and this allows us to make a difference for them, to be the patient voice.”