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Dear Members,
We kick off the December month with some celebrations. The first being our successful recognition of our Legislator of the Year Representative Cristin McCarthy Vahey. Cristin is the co-chair of the public health committee, and a strong believer in physical therapy. She was instrumental in us getting the PT Compact Bill added into legislation earlier this year.
We also then recognized our first class of the APTA CT Public Policy Advocacy Hall of Fame. We thanked past-presidents and pioneers in APTA CT advocacy, Joan-Alice Taylor, Hank Balavender, Vic Vaughan and Bill Hardy. We had some legends in the room, and it was so great to see everyone in person to celebrate our commitment to our profession and recognize the professionals that have really mentored us and set us up to be advancing in Connecticut the way that we have. We look forward to next year’s celebration and hope you can join. If you want to learn more about how to become a stronger advocate, please feel free to reach out, or contact our inaugural class!
Next we would like to thank Tom Kassan, outgoing Public Policy Chair. Tom took the helm as public policy chair in 2020. He has been involved and instrumental in our continued successes, especially coming off of the defense of Dry Needling, providing testimony and behind the scenes work on the PT Compact, working with other allied health professionals around their scope of practice expansions and making sure that our professional stake was at the forefront of everyone’s mind. Tom worked to create fundraising opportunities, bringing back the APTA CT Golf Tournament. He has been working with our special interest groups and committees to make sure that there is a liaison for public policy for each one, to ensure that everyone’s voice and concerns are heard and that we can support to the best of our ability. Tom, we truly appreciate you leading the way, we look forward to seeing you stay involved in the committee.
With that recognition, it’s also my pleasure to announce that Maryclaire Capetta has agreed to take on the role as public policy chair. Maryclaire was the 2022 recipient of the APTA CT Service Award. She has been involved in our chapter in varying positions, since she was a student! Public Policy and Federal Advocacy is one of the many strengths of Maryclaire, as well as her knowledge about Roberts Rules, Governance, and grassroots efforts. We are fortunate to have Maryclaire taking on the role of public policy leadership, and I look forward to working with her surrounding our 2024-2025 public policy strategic plan.
Join me in congratulating all involved and recognized in this message. We truly are better together and are doing great things every day to advance our profession.
Sincerely,
Stefanie Bourassa
President, APTA CT
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