Our industry needs passionate advocates and informed providers, which is why LSI is committed to providing meaningful scholarship opportunities to cardiac rehabilitation professionals. Created for industry leaders to further advocacy efforts, our Day on the Hill Scholarship provides recipients with full accommodations, registration and travel to AACVPR’s Annual Day on the Hill in Washington D.C.
This year’s recipients of our DOTH Scholarship, Mark Zaleskiewicz of Shore Memorial and Vicki Krebs of Evangelical Community Hospital, were able to join LSI and others in the industry on capitol hill last week to together advocate for cardiopulmonary rehab.
We asked each candidate why they should be chosen to win the Annual Leadership and Advocacy Scholarship and what it would mean to them. Here’s what our winners had to say:
Vicki Krebs:
“This event will be a wonderful opportunity to advocate for updating Medicare regulations to include CRNPs as qualified to supervise cardiac rehabilitation activities. At our center in Pennsylvania we’re also concerned that many Medicare HMOs include high copays and limit number of visits in their coverage for cardiac rehabilitation compared to conventional Medicare. This is causing elderly patients who may already be under financial pressure to decline participation. We would advocate for not only these services to be covered, but also that they would be covered to the same level in Medicare HMOs as conventional Medicare. Participation in the live workshop on treatment plans would also be very exciting, as we are always looking to improve our processes!”
Mark Zaleskiewicz:
“I’ve never had the opportunity to attend AACVPR’s Day on the Hill in previous years due to departmental scheduling and other Shore Medical Center staff attending. In the past ten years, AACVPR and GRQ have made a significant impact in changing CMS rules and regulations to benefit both the consumers and medical professionals engaged in cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation. My selection for the LSI Annual Leadership & Advocacy Scholarship would give me insight to the interworking and process of how to influence policy change in both governmental agencies like CMS and Independent Medical Carriers. The knowledge I would obtain from this scholarship will enable me to become an AACVPR spokesman for future legislative policy proposals and an advocate for patients both nationally and in my local affiliate area of TSSCVPR.”
Congratulations Mark and Vicki! Thank you for your passionate support of the cardiac rehab industry.
To view other professional scholarships from LSI, visit our scholarships page.