Local, State and Federal Advocacy

MARCH 2024 - Vol. 1

Happening Next Week:

Monday, March 4th, 12pm-1:15pm

On Monday, March 4th, from 12pm to 1:15pm, join us for a discussion of local, state, and federal policies that impact our community’s ability to effectively address the opioid/Fentanyl crisis, reduce overdose deaths, and support effective prevention and treatment programs. Individuals immersed in the work at the state and local level will be available to discuss the issues currently being worked on and the solutions that have already passed. Please join and see how you can help support our community healing.

NEW LOCAL PRACTICE

CARLA RUSSO, MD, FACOG, DipABLM

1155 N State Street, Suite 402

Bellingham, WA 98225

Cell: 360-441-4070

Office: 360-637-6710

I am excited to share that I am opening a new office-based Gynecology office in Bellingham, located in the Herald Building. This is a direct payment practice; patients will receive superbills to submit to the insurance for reimbursement, and all labs, imaging, and prescriptions can be billed through the patient's insurance. I have attached a letter introducing my practice, and I would be grateful if you could share this information with providers!

carlarusso@thepinkdahliahealthcenter.com

www.thepinkdahliahealthcenter.com

STATE ADVOCACY

Physician community leaders:

Just a brief update and note of thanks. We were not successful in our Medicaid ask this session—while we had good engagement on our bill by legislators and stakeholders, ultimately lawmakers did not include funding in the supplemental budget. We are just about to message our general membership to let them know (I’ve pasted below our message from Dr. Heshmati), but I wanted to reach out to you in advance since stakeholder support has been so important on this effort. We are deeply grateful for everyone’s engagement.

Graham Short

Director of Communications

Washington State Medical Association

Office: 206.956.3633 | Cell: 206.329.6851