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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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CONTACT: Ruth
A. Myers |
State Rep. Dante
Santoni |
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Santoni bills to protect patients, heart-lung machine professionals unanimously approved in House
HARRISBURG, June 18 – State Rep. Dante Santoni, D-Berks, said the House of Representatives unanimously approved two health-care bills he authored, and the legislation is now headed to the Senate for consideration.
House Bills 500 and 501 address perfusionists, the medical professionals who run heart-lung machines during complicated procedures such as open heart surgery and live-donor organ transplants. The bills would alter different areas of state law.
Under each bill, perfusionists would need to be licensed to practice in Pennsylvania, and the bills separately would require that a perfusionist be added to the state Board of Medicine and the state Board of Osteopathic Medicine.
“These bills would protect patients in the operating room and protect the medical professionals who have gone through the necessary training and follow the rules as they practice their occupation,” Santoni said. “These life-saving procedures are becoming more common, and as the demand for perfusionists rises, state law needs to be updated to reflect how much we value their role in our health-care system.”
Santoni invited constituents to contact him via his Web site at www.pahouse.com/Santoni or by calling his constituent service office at 610-921-8921.
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