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Congressional Center Visit - U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes Visits Dialysis Center in Tulare, CA
 Site visits are an excellent opportunity for Members of Congress and state lawmakers to experience first-hand how dialysis works, meet dialysis patients, and understand the unique issues faced by people on dialysis.
US Representative Devin Nunes is a 4th term Republican serving in California's Central Valley region near Fresno. He serves on the Budget and Ways & Means Committees. Devin Nunes' office sent staffer Andrew House who is his Senior Policy Advisor to visit the Tulare center.
It sometimes only takes one teammate to start the ball rolling. Teammate Grady Dodson took it upon himself to stop by Rep Devin Nunes' office in January while he was in Washington for the President Obama's inauguration. He was successful in landing a meeting that day with Rep. Nunes that lasted over an hour and a half! Rep Devin Nunes even cancelled some appointments to continue his meeting with Grady. Fortunately, he and Grady went to the same high school and had lots to talk about that led to his agreeing to visit Tulare.
In July as general follow up to his meeting in DC, Grady contacted Rep. Nunes' office to see if he could schedule a center visit. The center scheduled Rep. Nunes' staffer for 8/19/2009 during the summer recess when many lawmakers are back in their home districts. The G-Force Grassroots Manager, Amy Bogan was notifiied of the upcoming visit and we were able to successfully prepare for a united message with complimentary one-pagers and a prep-conference call with our teammate lobbyist Sarah Hamlett.
What a successful visit! The teammates were able to discuss the need for private insurance companies to extend the number of months the participants are able to hold on to their insurance before going on Medicare or Medicaid. We were also able to discuss the length of time we are waiting for surveys, the need for more incentives for surgeons in the central valley to assist with our access problems, etc.... Mr.. House assured us they would offer us any assistance they could and go to bat for us if possible. The Facility Administrator, Diane Alvarado and the Tulare team represented well! They had even arranged for a patient's relative that knew the Representative well to be there and speak on behalf of DaVita. Another patient, without coercion, brought up the issues of the fluctuating share of cost and how difficult it is to get their dialysis medications, transportation, etc....
Mr. House spent well over an hour and a half at the clinic, discussed our concerns, toured the facility, visited with patients, and went away with a greater appreciation of the valuable and life-saving services DaVita provide. Several pictures of the center visit were taken and shared with local media who published a newspaper article (I'll send as attachments in a second email).
Many thanks to Grady for landing this opportunity and to the Tulare team for representing the facility and the region so well!
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