Second year students in the occupational therapy assistant (OTA) program at Kent State East Liverpool participated in the annual American Occupational Therapy Assistant Hill Day in Washington, D.C., taking messages straight to the doorsteps of their state representatives.
For weeks preceding the conference, students in the Kent East Liverpool OTA program called to schedule appointments with individual senators and representatives from Ohio and Pennsylvania. Once in Washington, D.C., the students met in the offices of Ohio Senators Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman; and with Ohio Representatives Bill Johnson, Patrick Tiberi, Tim Ryan and James Renacci; as well as with Pennsylvania Senator Robert Casey and Representative Mike Kelly.
The students, along with faculty and staff, discussed the importance of occupational therapy and rehabilitation services and ensuring that people have full access to these services.
Topics discussed this year included Medicare access to rehabilitation services; Medicare home health flexibility; the Graham Cassidy healthcare bill; health resources and services; and the behavioral health workforce education training program.
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Photo: Kent State East Liverpool students and faculty from the occupational therapy assistant program attended Hill Day in Washington, D.C. They included (front, from left) Meika Dalrymple, Sarah Depew, Kacie Finn, Amber Crawford, Lyndsie Hribar, Makayla Ammon, Faith Moore, Gabrielle Fawver; and (back, from left) Nina Sullivan (faculty), Jasmine Johnson, Lynn O’Connell, Brittany Caldwell, Hanley Spencer, Shaye Starkey, Kayla Seevers, Lauren O’Leary, Tacie Shannon, Wayne Wilt (faculty), Emma Paparodis and Kathy Swoboda (faculty).
Cover photo: OTA students meeting with Ohio Rep. Bill Johnson.