[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 113 (Thursday, June 18, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E546]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF ELIZABETH ``BETSY'' GILBERTSON

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 18, 2020

  Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, it is with the heaviest of hearts that I 
rise today to pay tribute to Elizabeth ``Betsy'' Gilbertson, a dear 
friend who we lost much too soon. Though she waged a fierce battle, 
Betsy recently lost her fight with ovarian cancer.
  Betsy dedicated her professional life and much of her personal time 
to ensuring that everyone has access to affordable, quality health 
care. From the earliest days of her career, Betsy combined her passion 
for advocacy with that of her belief that quality, affordable 
healthcare was a right, not a privilege. As a member of the Connecticut 
Nurses Association and District 1199, New England SEIU, Betsy 
represented her fellow nurses in collective bargaining. She also led a 
non-profit women's health center before joining UNITE HERE HEALTH, a 
Taft-Hartley labor management trust fund that provides health benefits 
that offer high quality, affordable health care to their participants, 
where she held a number of leadership roles prior to her last position 
as Chief of Strategy.
  Betsy's dedication to quality, affordable healthcare extended far 
beyond her professional career. She served on National Quality Forum 
Task Forces on patient safety and ambulatory care measures; was founder 
as well as Chair/Co-Chair of the Health Services Coalition, a labor 
management organization that contracts with hospitals and advocates for 
public policies that improve quality health care, affordability, and 
access in Nevada; and was a Board member of the National Committee for 
Quality Assurance for five years. In more recent years, she continued 
her good work serving on the Lown Institute Advisory Council and the 
federal Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee.
  For me, Betsy was not only been an invaluable resource on healthcare 
issues, but a cherished friend. It is a friendship that dates back to a 
time before our lives took us to Washington, D.C. Betsy and her 
husband, John, lived in my childhood neighborhood of Wooster Square in 
New Haven, Connecticut for many years--John and my husband, Stan, 
teaching together at Yale University long before we met. Betsy and I 
were kindred spirits and I will be forever grateful to have had her 
friendship all these years.
  I am heartbroken at Betsy's loss and extend my deepest sympathies to 
her husband, John Wilhelm, as well as their children Tom and Vinnie; 
and their three grandchildren. I, like so many of those who had the 
opportunity to know her, consider myself fortunate to have called her 
my friend and will continue to be inspired by her memory. Betsy was an 
extraordinary woman who passion and dedication touched countless 
lives--this world is just a bit dimmer without her in it.

                          ____________________