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“I had the opportunity to attend an event here in Livingston in June to meet him face-to-face. Congressman Ford impressed me with his passion on the national issues we are facing and I decided to help him any way I could,” says Zach, who comes by his passion for respiratory care the old fashioned way—he inherited it. The 21-year-old is the son of AARC members Gene and Tracey Gantt, and the nephew of AARC members Scott Gantt and Bridgett Luna. Gene and Scott both work in the family business, Respiratory Support Services in Livingston, Tracey is at Cookeville Regional Medical Center in nearby Cookeville, and Bridgett is at Helen Keller Hospital in Muscle Shoals, AL. All are RRTs.
“With so many RTs in our family, you can count on almost every conversation turning into a case report, a need for policy change, or an RT war story,” says Zach. “My decision to enter the profession came very early in life; RT was more a way of life than a career choice.”
As the next generation in this large family of RTs, it is only natural that Zach has learned much about key issues in the profession—particularly the need for a national coverage policy for mechanical ventilation in the post-acute setting, a pet project of his dad’s. So it’s not surprising that he’s been using his relationship with Congressman Ford to promote RT concerns.
“The Congressman has targeted the Association Health Plan law as one of his top six priorities,” says the student. “He is much attuned to the need for affordable health care. I had a chance to introduce the concept of a national policy for mechanical ventilation.” He’s also been able to visit with Tennessee Congressman Lincoln Davis about these issues, and has been invited, along with his father, to come to Washington, DC, next year to further the discussions with both elected officials.
Zach says he’s always been interested in following legislative races and has worked in some local campaigns in the past. But this is the first time he’s gotten actively involved in a national election. “This is a very grassroots campaign that encourages those who support the election to call on friends and neighbors to encourage them to vote in the upcoming election. My job is to get them to vote for Ford. Aside from that we are out putting up signs, attending campaign organizational meetings, and generally talking up the concepts the Congressman has presented.”
While the Ford campaign is his first foray into a national election, it isn’t the first time he’s supported RT issues in the national arena. He got actively involved in the battle to overturn the oxygen provisions in the Deficit Reduction Act that passed in February, and more recently he’s been encouraging members of Congress to sign on to HR 5513, a bill that would eliminate the caps, and HR 964, legislation to include RTs under the Medicare home health benefit. “I can’t see myself not being involved, because I have learned that this involvement really does create change,” says the student.
Where does Zach Gantt see himself going in the profession? While he says its too soon to pin himself down, he would like to get some experience in critical care and then perhaps work in the post-acute arena, following the family legacy. He also has some political aspirations of his own. “Looking down the road I think about the possibility of someday making a race myself and being in a position to really make a difference for the RT profession and the patients we serve. But that’s down the road a little,” says the student.
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