Local Family, Hospital Leaders Represent Huntington at Family Advocacy Day in D.C.

From left, Lori Blackburn, RN, NICU and NTU nurse manager at Hoops Family Children’s Hospital; Melanie Akers, DNP, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, MHN vice president of Women’s and Children’s Services; Christina Langley; Magnolia Pauley; McKayla Hensley, Langley’s sister; Kathy Cosco, MHN director of government and external affairs; and (behind) Dr. Edward Pino, former medical director of HFCH, stand in front of the U.S. Capitol during Family Advocacy Day, June 12, 2025.

Three-year-old Magnolia Pauley spent her earliest days in the Neonatal Therapeutic Unit at Hoops Family Children’s Hospital. Today, she and her mother, Christina Langley, joined leaders from Marshall Health Network and Hoops Family Children’s Hospital who traveled to Capitol Hill to advocate for policies that allow children’s hospitals to provide effective patient-first care.  

The group participated in the Family Advocacy Day (FAD), the Children’s Hospital Association’s (CHA) marquee event connecting patients and families directly with lawmakers in Washington, D.C. This year, CHA is celebrating 20 years of connecting hearts and minds to the essential care provided by the nation’s children’s hospitals. FAD provides pediatric patients and their families with a powerful platform to share their journeys directly with federal lawmakers.

From left, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., McKayla Hensley, Christina Langley, and (front) Magnolia Pauley, pose for a photo in Capito’s office during Family Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill, June 12, 2025.

“This visit is an opportunity for our state representatives to hear directly from our patients about how the services we provide can change lives,” said Melanie Akers, DNP, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, MHN vice president of Women’s and Children’s Services. “Their family’s story is a beautiful example of Medicaid working as it is designed to.”

Langley, a Peer Support Specialist for the Marshall Health Maternal Addiction Recovery Center (MARC), is a graduate of MARC and a participant in HFCH’s Maternal Opioid Medical Support (MOMS) program.

Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., looks at Magnolia Pauley’s toy senator’s briefcase while her mother, Christina Langley, looks on during Family Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill, June 12, 2025.

While in MARC and MOMS, Langley said she found a welcoming community that provided her with the tools she needed to live sober so she could regain and maintain custody of her daughter. She continues to participate in individual and group therapy and, as a Peer Support Specialist, helps others become the best mothers they can be. Magnolia is now a thriving 3-year-old who loves Disney princesses and going on walks.

“None of this would have been possible for me without the programming I went through, and Medicaid made it all possible,” Langley said. “I have since gotten a job with my own insurance, but for many years, I depended on Medicaid, and many others still do. The thought that it could change and the ladies I work with wouldn’t have the opportunity to heal, get sober and be healthy, happy mothers is just devastating to me. We can’t let that happen.”

Medicaid provides medical coverage to children in every state, from every background. It provides affordable coverage to children from lower-income families and to children with special health care needs by filling the gap for services not covered by private insurance. This federal-state partnership is the largest source of children's health care coverage in the U.S. and helps hospitals like HFCH provide care to our community.