Meet Pat
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My family moved to Fairmont when I was 3 years old. I have lived in Fairmont most of my life. I graduated from Fairmont High School and worked as a secretary for several years. I am married to Dan, who lived in East Chain prior to moving to Fairmont with his family. Dan and I have 3 boys (Josh, Nick, and Tony). Nick is married to Amy and they have given us 2 beautiful granddaughters, Elizabeth and Alayna. We are blessed to have such a beautiful family.
As my boys were growing, I became interested in healthcare. I took a nurse's aide course at the Fairmont Community Hospital and worked alongside some of the best nurses I shall ever meet. My intense desire to do more and be more to patients led to nursing school. I graduated with my Associate Degree in Nursing in 1990. I wanted to be able to care for my patients in a more involved manner, so I went onto graduate school at Minnesota State University, Mankato, and became a Certified Family Practice Nurse Practitioner. We then moved to the Minneapolis area.
After several years of living and working in the cities, I returned to Fairmont and worked at the Smart Clinic and began teaching at Presentation College. Then school called to me again; I wanted to obtain my Doctorate in Nursing Practice. I did reach this goal in May of 2012 when I graduated from St. Catherine University in St. Paul. I am humbled to have my DNP and furthered humbled when I was accepted to present my research "Cultivating Caring in Nursing Education" at the London's Women Leadership Symposium in London. I presented my research at the Oxford and Cambridge Club just a few blocks from Buckingham Palace. What an honor.
I now work at Madelia Community Hospital and Clinic. Caring for patients and helping them enjoy a healthy life is a gift. My patients and I have developed relationships that go beyond the clinic. I often meet their family members, and in fact, invite them to clinic appointments. I tell all my patients that I will care for them with respect and honesty. I do not judge them but work with them to improve the quality of their lives.
A Passion for Representation
I decided to run for the MN House of Representatives because I want to represent the people in this district who feel they cannot speak for themselves, or they feel ill-equipped to speak. I want to represent families, children, adults, and the elderly; all need a strong voice for them at the state. I believe elected officials must work hard, across both sides of the aisle, to stand up for rural Minnesota. We must work to help families who are working hard every day to make ends meet. These families don't feel there are leaders who understand their plight. Families struggle to put food on the table, even though they work full-time. The absolute negligence of leaders to understand these difficult living conditions is what encouraged me to run for office. People should vote for me because I am honest, ethical, and straightforward. I devoted my Doctoral work to ending incivility in nursing education. My work can be generalized to all areas of work and education. Incivility and disrespect lead to gridlock and will not solve problems. I pledge to work with others respectfully and collaboratively.
Rural Minnesota needs people who have skills to work in a variety of positions. In order for this to happen, we need to continue collaborative learning arrangements between schools and businesses. The Fairmont School District now offers vocational training in Ag Academy, Welding (with 20 welding booths), Auto/mechanics, Culinary Arts and Construction.
I support quality education and believe that every child deserves a quality education. We must strive to always keep our schools fully funded. Investing in early education helps us prepare our children for a life of learning. They hold the key to the future and we must not let them down. We must close the academic gap and invest in education.
We also need to support our infrastructure. We need to repair roads, bridges, and help rural towns become re-vitalized. Transportation and infrastructure funding are critical. As we repair roads and bridges, we create jobs. For years, infrastructure has been under-funded, which leads to patchwork repair. Every year that we don't fund infrastructure appropriately, our costs to repair and fix roads and bridges increase. We must do better.
Long-term care facilities are in a crisis. Financial constraints, a shortage of staff, and a higher acuity of patients are overwhelming our facilities. We must work to support and fund these facilities as they care for our most fragile seniors.
I believe that every Minnesotan has a right to affordable health care. In our small communities, not all businesses can afford to offer health insurance to their employees, and farmers are struggling under high premiums and deductibles. Medical assistance and MinnesotaCare are vital programs for Minnesotans. People who qualify for these state/federal programs are small business owners, farmers, college students, elderly nursing home patients, children born with disabilities. I support a MinnesotaCare buy-in option for Minnesotans as a first step to increase access to medical providers, utilizing a well-run program that's already in place. I would support a Medicare-for-all model for all Minnesotans if the federal government is unable get the job done.
I am a strong believer in equal rights and equality for all, regardless of sex, race, religion, or sexual orientation. We need to close the wage gap between men and women, and we need to ensure that all human beings are treated fairly and equally. Women need to be able to access services for reproductive health, and we must make reproductive health available to all who want it. Research has proven that access to contraceptives and reproductive services decrease the number of abortions performed in our country. I have spent many years informing and educating men and women about the options available to them to prevent unplanned pregnancies. I know firsthand about the lack of education and therefore the many unplanned pregnancies. We must make contraceptives affordable and accessible to prevent further abortions and unplanned pregnancies. Those in the LGBTQ community deserve access to the same services as everyone else. I care for many in the LGBTQ community, and we must continue to offer equal services and care. Our immigrant neighbors must not be discriminated against because of where they were born. I support and care for all. I will fight to ensure protection from discrimination at every level.
Minnesota businesses have been hard hit by the COVID-19 virus and also the recent protests after George Floyd was murdered. We are now working to move forward and support our businesses who have been hit hardest by both. Support for our businesses is critical. I support continued support for businesses. Not only store fronts, but also farmers who had to euthanize their animals because of the lack of available processing plants. Imagine not only euthanizing animals, but dumping gallons of milk because there was no place to take the milk. This is horrific and I stand with these farmers. My step-father was a dairy farmer, I know how hard they work to make a living. I saw first hand how hard he worked. Our families deserve better; however, we did not do better. My priority, if elected, will be to support all small businesses and help them recover from the recent attacks they have experienced. Please support our greater Minnesota small businesses as they work to recover.
Endorsements & Distinctions
Endorsements will continue to be added here as they are released by organizations for the 2020 election cycle.
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