SEIU members around the country have spent the month of August meeting with their members of Congress and engaging in meaningful conversation about healthcare reform.

OREGON: Members of SEIU Local 49 joined Congressman Kurt Schrader as he toured Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis, Oregon on August 20th. During the tour, front-line health care workers spoke with the Congressman about health care delivery and health care reform.

IOWA: This past weekend at an event on the University of Iowa campus, area healthcare providers and SEIU Local 199 members displayed dozens of scrubs signed with the tragic stories of Americans who have suffered because of our broken healthcare system.

"We're just saying on behalf of all the people who signed these scrubs that we want change, that the status quo for our patients that we see every day is not working. And we're going to rely on our congressmen from Iowa to go back to Washington, DC and get something done so that people from Iowa have access to quality, affordable healthcare," said SEIU Local 199 president Cathy Glasson. Learn more the campaign w/ PQC to sign scrubs.

OHIO: On August 25th, SEIU District 1199 and the Ohio AARP hosted a panel on healthcare reform in Wintersville, Ohio. Hundreds of residents attended to ask questions and dispel reform myths. Watch this video of District 1199 Senior Executive Vice President Al Bacon speaking SEIU's efforts to push for reform at the town hall:

WASHINGTON: Members of SEIU Healthcare 1199NW are planning to connect with their member of Congress Rep. Jim McDermott at an upcoming town hall on Tuesday, September 1st. They're also going to be delivering several hundred surgical scrubs next week signed by members to Rep. McDermott as further proof why healthcare reform can't wait.

Along with SEIU locals, Change That Works teams around the country have also been hard at work.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: More than 150 people from across the state gathered in Portsmouth today to thank Representatives Paul Hodes and Carol Shea Porter for their commitment to reform--and remind them that every day health care reform is delayed, real people in New Hampshire are affected. Speakers at the rally included residents struggling to afford even bare-bones health insurance plans (like small business owner Scott Baez) and those that have been denied private health insurance because of a pre-existing conditions (like Laura Mick, who was born with a cyst on her brain).

And last week, with less then 24 hours' notice, the New Hampshire Change That Works team was able to get reform supporters to turn out to a healthcare forum with Sen. Judd Greg held at the Ingram Senior Center. During the meeting, Sen. Gregg confirmed that the 'death panels' which have been so highly touted by anti-reform activists are nothing more than an extremist scare tactic. Watch coverage of the forum here:

VIRGINIA: On August 25th, Change That Works helped bring over 2,000 healthcare reform supporters to a town hall in Reston, Virginia with Rep. Jim Moran and former DNC Chair Dr. Howard Dean. Volunteers made homemade signs with messages such as "Moms and Babies for Public Option" and "Patriots for Public Option."

NEBRASKA: An estimated crowd of 600 people gathered on the steps of the Capitol this week in Lincoln, NE for a rally in support of quality, affordable healthcare for all Americans. At the August 25th event sponsored by groups including Change to Win, the Interfaith Workers Justice, HCAN, OFA and the AFL-CIO, speakers shared their stories that highlighted the human toll of our broken healthcare system on people from all walks of life--veterans, small business owners, doctors and retired folks.

Supporters of health reform have been outnumbering opponents by large margins at events like the ones we just told you about; helping to lead honest, civil conversations with members of Congress. In the coming week, SEIU members and supporters all over the country will turn their attention to celebrating Labor Day by joining together and demanding reform.

As members of Congress head back to Washington, DC in a few days' time, do your part to help send them back to work with a clear directive on health care reform. Join us at send-off rallies across the country.

Now is the time for healthcare reform, and SEIU members from 1199NW are helping to lead the way. Delegations of community leaders from over 40 states are being flown into Washington for in order to meet with key Members of Congress, and four SEIU Healthcare 1199NW members will be among them.

RNs Linda Arkava and Tara Lerew, CNA Maikele Mengesha and medical unit secretary Levorn Glover will be on Capitol Hill tomorrow as part of HCAN's large-scale rally and lobby day for quality, affordable health care. Watch the video to find out about why they're traveling from Washington state to DC to lobby for reform.