Legislative Advocacy

Hospitals throughout Washington state continually face serious budget challenges. Some of the reasons for the industry's current financial difficulty include:

• Declining reimbursements for hospital services

• Rising costs of labor, technology and supplies

• Aging baby boomer population

Through legislative-advocacy efforts at Swedish, we're working hard to obtain fair reimbursements for health-care providers and greater access to health-care services for the under-served.

You can take an active role in helping to solve the health care crisis by educating yourself about current issues facing the industry and asking your state representative to put more money back into health care.

Here are some resources where you can learn how to make a difference.

Washington State Hospital Association - Find the latest news about health-care issues and learn how you can participate in the political process.

Washington State Legislature - Get information about the State House of Representatives, the Senate, legislative agencies, pending bills and more.

Washington State Legislature Representative Search - Look up district maps and contact information for your local state legislative representatives.

THOMAS - Use this guide to federal legislation from the Library of Congress for information about bills already in progress.

Send an e-mail to Governor Christine Gregoire.

For more on Swedish's legislative-advocacy efforts, contact Dan Dixon: dan.dixon@swedish.org.