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Pennsylvania Association of Nurse Anesthetists

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Kurt Knaus; P: 717-724-2866; E: kurt@ceislermedia.com




PANA Installs Westmoreland Co. CRNA as First-Ever Director

to Newly Formed Government Relations Post

Position will give association constant presence among stakeholders

dealing with issues related to anesthesia care, health costs in Pa.

HARRISBURG (Jan. 31, 2020) --- The Pennsylvania Association of Nurse Anesthetists (PANA), which represents more than 3,700 certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) and students across the state, has named Jessica Poole to serve as the association’s first-ever director in a newly formed post focused on government relations in Pennsylvania.

Poole, DNAP, MHS, CRNA, will begin her role as Government Relations Director on Feb. 1. She currently serves as PANA Vice President and heads PANA’s State Governance Relations Committee. She will resign her Vice President post to take on this new contracted position, which incorporates state governance and focuses on engaging lawmakers and association members on issues important to CRNAs.

“This is a tremendous honor,” said Poole, of Unity Township, Westmoreland County. “Our association leadership should be commended for taking this new direction. Creating this position shows just how serious PANA is about enhancing the practice of anesthesia in Pennsylvania, and how committed we are to providing safe, cost-effective care for every Pennsylvanian.”

Unlike other PANA leadership positions and committee chairmanships, the Government Relations Director is a contracted post designed to be long term to provide a more stable, consistent point of contact for CRNAs, policy-makers, health-care professionals and other stakeholders.

“Jess has already proven her credentials over nearly two years while running PANA’s State Governance Relations Committee,” PANA President Angelarosa G. DiDonato, DNP, CRNA, said. “She’ll be able to hit the ground running. And that’s exactly what we need her to do so we can quickly advance the policies that are so important to CRNAs and the people we serve every day.”

Among her duties, Poole will be a primary point of contact for lawmakers and other health-care trade associations and organizations, helping to inform stakeholders about issues related to CRNA practice in Pennsylvania. She also will serve as a liaison to the board, keeping them apprised of priority and emerging policy issues.

Her work won’t center simply on the Capitol complexes in Harrisburg or Washington. Poole will travel the state to attend planned meetings, events and forums with association members, lawmakers and other partners. The effort will help residents learn more about CRNAs and the work they do to keep patients safe and reduce the cost of health care.

Besides her work with PANA, Poole also has held committee posts with the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists. She currently works with BPW Medical Associates PC, a private practice serving southwestern Pennsylvania.

CRNAs are the hands-on providers of anesthesia care, operating safely in every setting where anesthesia is administered, including hospital operating and delivery rooms; ambulatory surgical centers; the offices of dentists, podiatrists, ophthalmologists, and plastic surgeons; pain management centers and more.

CRNAs are the main providers of anesthesia care in rural communities and medically underserved areas, delivering essential health care and preventing gaps in services. CRNAs also are battle-tested, serving on the front lines since World War I as the main providers of anesthesia care to U.S. military personnel in austere combat theaters.

Despite these advancements, Pennsylvania remains one of only two states (New York is the other) that fails to recognize CRNA designation in some form. There is no formal definition for “certified registered nurse anesthetist” under the state’s Professional Nursing Law, meaning they are recognized only as registered nurses (RNs), not CRNAs. Professional designation legislation (S.B. 325) passed the Senate last session but has not yet been taken up by the House.

For more information about PANA, visit www.PANA.org. For details about key policy issues, visit www.PANAforQualityCare.com or follow along on social media via Twitter at @PANACRNA or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PANACRNA.

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Pennsylvania Association of Nurse Anesthetists

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Kurt Knaus; P: 717-724-2866; E: kurt@ceislermedia.com



Nurse Anesthetists Donate $20,000 for Down Syndrome Care, Treatment

Matching grant will support colleague ‘running for Luca’ in Boston Marathon

HARRISBURG (Jan. 22, 2020) --- The Pennsylvania Association of Nurse Anesthetists (PANA) is putting its money behind a former colleague who will run the Boston Marathon this year to raise awareness and ensure care and treatment for individuals with Down syndrome. PANA is providing $20,000 in matching grants to support the effort.

Maria van Pelt, Ph.D., CRNA, FAAN, has been a nurse for 28 years and a certified registered nurse anesthetist for 22 years. She worked in Philadelphia nearly her entire career, having served as Program Director of the University of Pennsylvania Nurse Anesthesia Program until 2012, when she moved to Massachusetts. She currently is Dean of the School of Nursing and an Associate Dean, Bouvé College of Health Sciences, at Northeastern University School of Nursing in Boston.

In 2014, van Pelt started running races for Luca --- and she hasn’t looked back since.

Luca’s mom, Denise Martin Zadeh of Voorhees Township, N.J., just across the river from Philadelphia, was a student who graduated from the Nurse Anesthesia Program in 2006 when van Pelt was Program Director at Penn. That’s where they met, and where Luca’s mom inspired van Pelt by her advocacy as a parent of a child with Down syndrome.

Van Pelt runs races for Luca as a way to advocate, support and improve the lives of individuals with Down syndrome, and she gives every medal she earns from the half marathons, marathons and ultramarathons she runs to Luca.

She will keep the tradition alive when she runs the Boston Marathon on April 20.

This year, PANA is giving something to van Pelt --- a $10,000 grant that she will donate in Luca’s name to the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress, the premier source of Down syndrome information, advocacy and networking in The Bay State.

Additionally, PANA will provide a matching grant in van Pelt’s home state, giving $10,000 to the Trisomy 21 Program at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The program evaluates, treats and provides coordinated multidisciplinary care for children and adults with trisomy 21, also known as Down syndrome.

“I’m overwhelmed by the support and so honored PANA would join with me and Luca and his family to take on this challenge,” van Pelt said.

The matching grants were announced during the midpoint of CRNA Week in Pennsylvania, when patients, hospital administrators, health-care professionals, policy-makers, and others learn more about certified registered nurse anesthetists and the work they do to keep patients safe. The weeklong celebration runs in conjunction with the 21st annual National CRNA Week from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25.

“CRNAs universally share the same mission of helping families find peace of mind and comfort in difficult situations,” said PANA President Angela DiDonato. “CRNAs are patient advocates --- and Maria is the epitome of what it means to be an advocate. PANA stands with her as she continues her run for Luca.”

CRNAs are the hands-on providers of anesthesia care, operating safely in every setting where anesthesia is administered, including hospital operating and delivery rooms; ambulatory surgical centers; the offices of dentists, podiatrists, ophthalmologists, and plastic surgeons; pain management centers and more.

Pennsylvania’s ranks among the top draws nationally for certified registered nurse anesthetists and students, with 13 highly rated nurse anesthetist programs serving every corner of the commonwealth and helping to sustain one of the largest contingencies of professionals in its association in the country.

For more information about certified registered nurse anesthetists in Pennsylvania, visit www.PANAforQualityCare.com or follow along on social media via Twitter at @PANACRNA or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PANACRNA.

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Pennsylvania Association of Nurse Anesthetists

CONTACT: Kurt Knaus; P: 717-724-2866; E: kurt@ceislermedia.com




Nurse Anesthetists in Pa. Ensure Patient Safety,

Help to Control Rising Health-care Costs

HARRISBURG (Jan. 20, 2020) --- Pennsylvania ranks among the top draws nationally for certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) and students, with 13 highly rated nurse anesthetist programs serving every corner of the commonwealth and helping to sustain one of the largest contingencies of professionals in the country.

This week marks CRNA Week in Pennsylvania, when patients, hospital administrators, health-care professionals, policy-makers, and others learn more about CRNAs and the work they do to keep patients safe and help reduce the cost of health care. The week-long celebration runs in conjunction with the 21st annual National CRNA Week from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25.

“Surgery and anesthesia can be intimidating,” said Angelarosa G. DiDonato, DNP, CRNA, president of the Pennsylvania Association of Nurse Anesthetists (PANA). “That’s why it’s so important for people to understand the vital role CRNAs play as a patient advocate. We stay with our patients for every heartbeat and every breath, administering their anesthetics and watching over their vital signs. We never leave their side.”

Pennsylvania is recognized as a leader in anesthesia education and training, with 13 programs spread throughout Allegheny, Columbia, Erie, Lackawanna, Lehigh, Montgomery, Philadelphia, Westmoreland and York counties. (For a full list of programs, visit www.PANAforQualityCare.com and click “Resources.”)

CRNAs are the hands-on providers of anesthesia care, operating safely in every setting where anesthesia is administered, including hospital operating and delivery rooms; ambulatory surgical centers; the offices of dentists, podiatrists, ophthalmologists, and plastic surgeons; pain management centers and more.

The nation’s 54,000 CRNAs and student registered nurse anesthetists safely and cost-effectively provide more than 49 million anesthetics each year. PANA itself represents more than 3,700 CRNAs and students across the state --- one of the largest contingencies in the country.

The role CRNAs play in Pennsylvania’s and the nation’s health-care system is expansive.

CRNAs are the main providers of anesthesia care in rural communities and medically underserved areas, delivering essential health care and preventing gaps in services. CRNAs also are battle-tested, serving on the front lines since World War I as the main providers of anesthesia care to U.S. military personnel in austere combat theaters.

With advanced degrees and a high level of education and clinical experience, CRNAs are able to deliver the same safe, high-quality anesthesia care as other anesthesia professionals but at a lower cost, helping to control the nation’s rising health-care costs.

Because of their training and experience, numerous medical studies show there is no statistical difference in patient outcomes when a nurse anesthetist provides treatment. In fact, these studies by nationally recognized health-care policy and research organizations prove that CRNAs provide high-quality care, even for rare and difficult procedures.

That’s because CRNAs are with the patient throughout the entire procedure. Anesthesiologists, on the other hand, may have several cases to attend to simultaneously, or they may be somewhere else handling another response.

CRNAs provide routine anesthesia care but also quickly respond to patient changes and emergencies during surgical and medical procedures, ensuring patient health and safety.

For more information about certified registered nurse anesthetists in Pennsylvania, visit www.PANAforQualityCare.com or follow along on social media via Twitter at @PANACRNA or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PANACRNA.

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