In preparation for our 2019 National C diff Summit and Lobby Day,  Advocates Council members were asked to reach out to their federal legislators to schedule appointments. Some Advocates were able to quickly secure their appointments, usually with a staff member. For others, it took some persistence. Frustratingly, each office had its own process, most of which required a constituent to take multiple steps to even reach a scheduler. While this felt more arduous than it should be, all but two of our twenty-give advocates were able to secure meetings in advance of the Lobby Day.

However, Lucy Mead and Maryann Webb – despite easily securing meetings with their representatives – tried for three weeks to schedule appointments with Florida senators Rick Scott and Marco Rubio. Given that C. diff infections kill 1,800 Floridians every year, Lucy and Maryann were determined to meet their senators. Despite their efforts, no one in the senators’ offices would set a meeting before we left for DC. So Lucy and Maryann have written an op-ed in Florida’s Sun Sentinel asking why Scott and Rubio refused to meet with them: “Neither Rubio nor Scott, nor aides, would meet to talk about preventing disease killing 1,800 Floridians a year. Constituents deserve better.“