The Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) presented Columbus Community Hospital with the Advocacy All-Star Award on Tuesday, April 13 at the WHA Advocacy Day in Madison at the Monona Terrace.

Ed Harding, CCH President and CEO, accepted the award on behalf of the hospital in the presence of 640 WHA members and volunteers. The award is presented each year to a hospital which goes above and beyond in advocacy.

“From the top down, Columbus Community Hospital does everything right with advocacy,” said Jenny Boese, WHA Vice President of External Relations and Member Advocacy.

CCH’s involvement in advocacy over the past year included Ed Harding, CCH President and CEO, chairing a joint member task force, which introduced the Rural Healthcare Access Act – AB 770/SB 553 into legislation; the organization’s commitment to utilizing local media in their service area regarding legislative issues related to healthcare; testimony by Peg Haggerty, CCH Vice President of Patient Care Services, and Sue Schweitzer, CCH Director of Outpatient Services, against Assembly Bill 152 and Senate Bill 108 to ban mandatory overtime in Wisconsin health care facilities; and the commitment of the hospital’s leadership team, board members, and volunteers in being aware of legislative issues affecting today’s health care services.

“I am proud of the increased membership across our management team in advocacy and our board members as well,” said Harding. “Our affiliation with SSM Healthcare has helped open doors for us, and our volunteers are always active when asked to react to legislative issues.”

Advocacy Day is an annual event that connects hospitals with their legislators in Madison so legislators can hear about what hospitals are doing to improve quality, increase transparency and expand access to care in their communities.

Advocacy Day attendees heard from keynote speaker Juan Williams, NPR Senior Correspondent/FoxNews Contributor, Governor Jim Doyle, and Gubernatorial Candidates Scott Walker and Mark Neumann.

According to the Federal Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality, Wisconsin is ranked number one again this year for the quality of its health care. This is Wisconsin’s second time at number one in the past three years. Wisconsin hospitals generate over $22 billion annually in economic activity and employ over 100,000 people in communities across the state.

In addition, Wisconsin hospitals provided $1.4 billion in community benefits, gave uncompensated health care services to over 1 million patients, and participated or sponsored nearly 60 free community clinics across the state over the past year.

Wisconsin hospital volunteers contributed 1.3 million volunteer hours in 2009 alone, raising and then donating $2.1 million to hospitals as well as awarding almost $450,000 in academic scholarships to students interested in health careers.