CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW)- Del. Amy Laufer was on hand at the University of Virginia Medical Center on Wednesday to present a resolution honoring the work and dedication of the Nursing Advocacy Initiative. 

“We know that with HR1 coming down, with the changes for healthcare and our own workforce shortages, nursing is something we’re passionate about and we want to ensure we’re acknowledging all their hard work,” Laufer told Cville Right Now. 

The NAI is a non-partisan, nurse-led, professional advocacy group that informs legislators about how policy impacts nurses’ ability to care for their patients. 

“Advocating for our patients is part of being a nurse, UVA nurses are experts in their specialties, and legislators cannot be experts in everything,” said Jennifer Thomas Hall, Director of Nursing Professional Practice with UVA Health, and the co-lead of the initiative. “Our goal with the NAI is to bring the experience and wisdom of UVA nurses to legislators so they can have the information they need to make informed policy decisions.” 

“We are hoping to expand coverage for Medicaid patients to receive remote maternal monitoring for up to a year postpartum,” Abigail Southerland, NAI member and Ambulatory Clinic Nurse Manager told Cville Right Now. “Traditionally it’s quick, anywhere between 6-12 weeks, but they want coverage for a year.” 

Maternal care was the primary topic of the meeting, though a significant workforce gap, along with care accessibility for rural patients, were cited as important issues by both the NAI and Delegate Laufer. 

“The healthcare landscape for moms and babies is changing drastically,” Hall said. “Our nurses are seeing that we are a safety net hospital for moms and babies in areas where hospitals are closing.”

Laufer, who has been a member of the General Assembly’s Rural Health Task Force since 2024, has been traveling alongside her fellow task force members outside of the General Assembly session, visiting places like Tazewell, Eastern Shore, and most recently, Staunton, in order to assess the impact of hospital and practice closures in rural areas, as well as specific care needs for mothers and their children.  

“There are fewer births happening right now, but many pregnant people with higher risk factors like diabetes and high blood pressure,” Laufer told Cville Right Now. “Furthering midwifery, doula, remote monitoring, and tele-health services, are all initiatives to support patients in rural areas.” 

She said that she and her fellow delegates are also having discussions with constituents about the growing shortage of nurses and healthcare workers, along with accessibility to care.  Laufer praised the Charlottesville-Albemarle Nursing Education Initiatives to help with the workforce gap.

“UVA and PVCC have many great programs, so we are making sure to partner with everybody to get as many people ready to be a nurse and pursue that career,” she said.

Laufer also continues to draw attention to the barrier to care current healthcare costs are, and her efforts, along with other lawmakers in Richmond, saw $150 million added to the state budget that patients can apply to coverage from the healthcare Marketplace, a provision that the Federal Government shut down in the National budget.  She told Cville Right Now that in a meeting with Sentara earlier Wednesday morning, that the company saw 70,000 people withdrawing their coverage from the Marketplace due to cost concerns. 

To alleviate one of the chief needs for maternal care, the NAI put forth a plan to the delegate to expand Medicaid coverage for remote maternal monitoring up to one-year postpartum. 

“The hope for remote monitoring, is that we’re able to care for more patients through our doors by keeping patients in their home and being able to care for them in a way that they don’t have to miss work,” Southerland said. “They don’t have to do day care, and they don’t have to choose between paying for gas for an appointment at UVA or going to work.”