Private duty home care providers and industry leaders from around the country joined newly appointed Executive Director of Private Duty at NAHC, Kristen Wheeler, along with several members of NAHC’s Private Duty Advisory Council on Wednesday, May 4, 2022, to share information and learn more about NAHC’s advocacy efforts as they relate to the workforce crisis in the country.
Dave Totaro, Chief Government Affairs Officer for BAYADA and one of the Council’s two Co-Chairs, shared information about NAHC’s efforts to form the Home Care Workforce Action Alliance (HCWAA), a collaboration of several national associations with a common goal: alleviation of the home care worker staffing crisis. A formal announcement about HCWAA is scheduled for May 18th, 2022, but attendees learned about the history of the collaboration, its four key components and what the Call to Action will look like.
NAHC’s Director of Grassroots Advocacy, Summer Napier, shared her grassroots plan, asking for all attendees to identify the person in their company best suited to be named as their advocacy leader. “I know that sometimes in the private duty world, it seems like we get overlooked because there’s not as much noise about it,” Summer said, “and, I think that’s what Kristen and I, along with the Council, are really passionate about changing.” Attendees were encouraged to share their stories because, as Dave pointed out, elected officials hear about data points all day long, but it’s the individual stories from constituents that they remember.
President and CEO La Jolla Nurses Homecare and Council Co-Chair, Brittnei Salerno, talked to attendees about other potential legislation that NAHC is keeping a close eye on, including the introduction of a federal bill that would shorten the current 40-hour work week to 32 hours. While this bill in its current iteration isn’t picking up much steam, NAHC is watching it and will keep members apprised of any changes of note.
Kristen Wheeler, Executive Director of Private Duty at NAHC
A recording of the meeting can be watched by registering here.
Do you have topics for discussion at future Town Hall meetings? Contact Kristen Wheeler at kwheeler@nahc.org or directly at (305) 849-1300.