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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us September 17, 2005 Practicing wellness This nurse practitioner ‘walks the talk’ By Alan Panebaker Tidings Correspondent Bunny Lewis, a recipient of the Honorary Political Involvement Award from the Oregon Nurses Association, was appointed last week to the American Nurses Association political action committee. Living in Ashland since 1991, Lewis works at Lasting Wellness, a health care provider primarily for women. Kara Q. Lewis | Ashland Daily Tidings Bunny Lewis is not your typical nurse practitioner. Her waiting room is filled with inviting rocking chairs with a pot of hot water always ready for that comforting cup of tea someone just might need. Her consultation rooms even echo the sounds of appeasing tunes. While Lewis does practice traditional medicine and write prescriptions for medications and physical therapy, she has a different approach to health care than the average nurse. She deals with every women’s issue from menopause to vitamin D deficiency and emphasizes the mix between traditional and holistic medicine. She’s not afraid to admit that she is a political activist either, and she’s doing whatever she can to reform health care for women (and men) in her own small part of the world. “I’m a practitioner who walks the talk,” Lewis said. While many people in health care may realize there are problems with the system, Lewis said, she actually lobbies to make real changes that affect everyday people. Perhaps this is why her list of awards and appointments is almost as long as the variety of women’s health care issues she deals with in her new business — Lasting Wellness. Perhaps this is also why she was given the 2004 Honorary Political Involvement Award by the Oregon Nurse’s Association. Also, in June, Lewis was appointed to the ONA’s board of directors and last week received a letter informing her she had been picked by the American Nurses Association to be a political action leader. According to American Nurses Association senior political action specialist Chad Lennox, Lewis has been tabbed the ANA’s liaison to her local congressman. She was picked because of her previous political experience and involvement and what the ANA sees as a legitimate concern for health care and nursing. “For these appointments, we look for someone with a passion for nursing and someone who sees the bigger picture of nursing,” Lennox said. “She needs to have passion for nursing and be willing to advocate that to a congressman.” And Lewis has proved herself in the past as a mover and shaker in the passing of laws bettering healthcare. Four years ago, Lewis started working on passing House Bill 2800 — which was supposed to improve the quality of nursing and shield nurse’s from excessive mandatory overtime. The bill passed with help from Lewis and added another notch on her political activist career as an advocate for nursing and women’s health in general. “Airline pilots can’t do overtime,” Lewis said. “Neither should nurses.” It is this seriousness about her job that has brought Bunny Lewis to where she is today. After 12 years in public health, she decided to open her own practice and has been open since March 2004. “I’m a professional with a personal touch,” Lewis said. She has seen how the system works in the public health and private practice and tries to conglomerate the best of both worlds. Her hope is that people will realize the value of Lasting Wellness and allow her business to continue growing. “I’m just doing what needs to be done to get what people need to have,” Lewis said. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Generic Viagra Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Sportsbook Absinthe Supply Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations African Safari Hammocks Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino King of Spirits ink cartridges Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams