March 7, 2020

The Honorable Tim Kaine

213 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510

Dear Senator Kaine:

As a critical care nurse, I am contacting you to support H.R. 2781 Educating Medical
Professionals and Optimizing Workforce Efficiency and Readiness for Health Act of 2019. In the
unit I work at, I interact with every healthcare specialty. It is very important for healthcare
specialties to have the proper funding in order to provide the best care to each patient. It’s
crucial for specialties such as occupational therapy, audiology, and speech language pathology
to have the proper training needed for their job. With the funding for this bill, it would increase
the research in these specialties. I work with a lot of physical, occupational, and speech therapy
healthcare workers. I believe they make a big difference in the unit I work in. Often times
people think an acute illness is the most important part of the hospitalization. However, the
most important part of the hospitalization is the rehabilitation they receive. As a nurse, I want
the patient to get back to their normal baseline. With the help of the different therapy
departments, we can make this possible.

Bill H.R. 2781 would also allow grant programs to enhance geriatric workforce. As people get
older, they require more care. It is unfortunate that nursing homes are often understaffed and
they lack equipment needed for the patients. I believe that proper equipment and care is
needed in order to give geriatric patients great care. By optimizing the care they receive, we will
be able to enhance the life of these patients.

The House of Representatives passed H.R. 2781 October 29, 2019. It is up to the Senate to
decide whether the bill can move forward. Bill H.R. 2781 would increase the quality of care our
patients in Virginia receive.

Thank you for your consideration. Feel free to contact me to discuss this topic further.

Sincerely,
Stefany
Registered Nurse
214 Crest Circle
Winchester, VA 22602
540-533-5708