McCollum Announces Gillette Children’s CEO Barbara Joers As State of the Union Address Guest

Congresswoman Betty McCollum (MN-04) will be joined by Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare President and CEO Barbara Joers as her guest to President Biden’s State of the Union Address to Congress on Thursday, March 7.

The State of the Union Address will highlight the historic achievements that House Democrats and President Biden have delivered and share an optimistic vision of putting People Over Politics to lower costs, grow the middle class, make all our communities safer, and defend our freedoms.

In Fiscal Year 2023, Congresswoman McCollum and Barbara Joers worked together to secure $1.5 million in Community Project Funding for Gillette Children’s Research Investigative Lab in Saint Paul. The funds for this project are being used to reconfigure clinical space with the goal to integrate in-patient research functions to better suit the needs of patients and families.

“I am proud to welcome Barbara Joers as my State of the Union guest to highlight our partnership in securing federal investments in high-quality, compassionate health care for children,” said Congresswoman McCollum. “The investments in Gillette’s Research Investigative Lab are about meeting the needs of our community. Last Congress, President Biden worked with House Democrats to pass significant federal investments that are benefiting Minnesota—lowering health care costs and protecting the Affordable Care Act, fighting climate change, and improving people’s lives. During our leadership together we showed how the House should work with our communities to serve the American people.”

“I am honored to join Rep. McCollum at the State of the Union Address to hear from President Biden,” said Barbara Joers, President and CEO of Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare. “At Gillette Children's, we lead in pediatric specialty care through innovation and care coordination. Our providers and researchers are passionate about improving the lives of children living with complex healthcare needs and relentlessly pursue research to discover the newest and best evidence-based clinical care. Research is a crucial driver of how we advance detection, diagnosis, and treatment interventions for pediatric musculoskeletal and neurological conditions. I am so pleased to have worked with Congresswoman McCollum on funding for a project that will expand Gillette Children's research capacity and capabilities, positively impacting the lives of many children and their families.”

Background:

Barbara Joers, President and CEO, Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare
Barbara (Walczyk) Joers has served as President and Chief Executive Officer at Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare in Minnesota since 2013. As the United States’ first publicly funded hospital dedicated to serving children who have disabilities, Gillette Children’s today is an independent organization that provides subspecialized care to children who have complex, rare or traumatic conditions affecting the performance of an individual's musculoskeletal and neurological systems.

Community Project Funding: Gillette Specialty Healthcare Research Investigative Lab ($1,500,000)
The investigative lab will be used to conduct research related to assessment of motor control, movement disorders, spasticity, and pain, and include a rehabilitation research and clinical care space needed to advance the development of biofeedback, robotics, and exoskeleton development.

Congresswoman McCollum is committed to working to make health care more affordable and accessible, including protecting the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which has lowered costs, brought quality health care to tens of millions of people, and protected people with pre-existing conditions from discrimination. In Minnesota, our ACA insurance exchange MNsure broke its previous enrollment record, with 146,000 signups during the 2023 open enrollment period. Protecting and strengthening the ACA and MNsure is important to facilitate access to health care coverage for families with children who have disabilities and medically complex conditions.

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