Advocacy Spotlight
Ailene Gerhardt and Rebeka Acosta
Winners of the 2023 Advocate of the Year Award
NAHAC is proud to announce two of our members, Ailene Gerhardt, BCPA, CSA, and Rebeka Acosta, BCPA, were presented with the 2023 Advocate of the Year award at September's Healthcare Advocate Summit in New Orleans. Both were awarded in the category of Independent Patient and Healthcare Advocate, while Rebeka's specifically acknowledged her efforts in pediatrics.
The Healthcare Advocate Summit recognizes that advocates working directly with patients/clients and healthcare staff can provide critical insights for improving the patient journey and outcomes. In 2023, for the first time in its three year history, the organizers of the Healthcare Advocate Summit partnered with the Coalition of Health Care Advocacy Organizations (CHCAO) to offer the Independent Patient and Health Care Advocate Education Track during this year's Healthcare Advocate Summit in New Orleans, Louisiana!
This event brought the independent advocate national community together in person for top-notch programming aimed at building skills and setting the tone for the future of Professional Patient and Health Care Advocacy. In addition, the Summit served as a prime opportunity to grow and spread awareness of independent advocacy and Board Certified Patient Advocates (BCPA).
The Healthcare Advocate Summit team accepts hundreds of nominations for the Advocate of the Year awards across four categories. This year, the Independent Patient and Healthcare Advocate awards were selected among many independent advocates at the conference. As defined by the summit team, The Advocate of the Year "is an awards initiative that recognizes the contributions being made across the field by rising stars and emerging Leaders working as Healthcare Advocates."
Learn more about the Healthcare Advocate Summit here!
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Ailene Gerhardt, MA, BCPA, CSA, is an Independent Board Certified Patient Advocate, Certified Senior Advisor, Solo Aging educator, and Founder, Beacon Patient Solutions LLC and The Navigating Solo Network. She lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Rebeka Acosta, BCPA, is the first Board Certified Patient Advocate in Nevada and the founder of A+J Patient Advocacy in Las Vegas, Nevada.