Legislative Leader Training and 2025 Legislative Agenda

Donte Newsom, DNP, FNP-BC, is a family nurse practitioner working in interventional radiology at Allegany Imaging, PC, and UPMC Western Maryland. He is also an adjunct instructor for the family nurse practitioner program at Simmons University. Dr. Newsom earned a BSN, MSN, and a Doctor of Nursing Practice all from West Virginia University. A leader in human and civil rights in West Virginia, Dr. Newsom pursued his Doctor of Nursing Practice with the goal of opening pathways to improve nursing and health care practice. Newsom aspires to influence practice change and shape how care is delivered in the future. Donte currently serves as a board member with Fairness West Virginia, the statewide human/civil rights organization devoted to equal rights for all LGBTQ+ West Virginians. He also serves as a medical officer for Mountaineer Boys State, a board member for The Connecting Link, and on the WVNA Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee (DEI). Donte is a Fairmont, West Virginia, native and spent most of his life in north central WV. He currently lives in Mineral County.

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Jodi Biller, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, is a Marshall alumna with a Doctor of Nursing Practice from West Virginia University. She has been a nurse practitioner since 2013 in the field of pulmonary medicine and has experience in pulmonary/critical care and long-term acute care. In addition to her clinical practice, she is the director of clinical improvement for MHC ACO and works closely with healthcare leaders at Mountain Health Network and Marshall Health to analyze, develop, and implement clinical programs that promote population health. In 2007, she completed an Associate of Science in Nursing from Marshall University/St. Mary’s School of Nursing. While working full-time in intensive care at St. Mary’s Medical Center and per diem at Cabell Huntington Hospital, she completed the RN to BSN (2010) and Master of Science in Nursing (2013). She has a passion for population health and healthcare policy and is driven to make changes for APRNs to provide care at the full extent of their scope of practice. Individualized patient-centered care is the foundation of her practice. In West Virginia, she has had three bills sponsored that have become state law. These included no managed care organization can deny payment to APRNs based on having a collaborative agreement, psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners are now able to provide counseling to patients with substance use disorder, and APRNs and Physician Assistants can prescribe all medications except Schedule I and three days of narcotics while following the Opioid Reduction Act. Through team building and continued relationships, she works closely with legislative leaders in West Virginia and Washington, D.C. Dr. Biller finds gaps in care and creates workable solutions resulting in superior care for our community. Currently, she is the West Virginia State Liaison for the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and chair of the Health Policy and Legislation Committee for the West Virginia Nurses Association.