Nurse Anesthetists Donate $10,000 to Ronald McDonald Houses

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Nurse Anesthetists Donate $10,000 to Ronald McDonald Houses

Grant Includes $4,000 for RMHC Mid-Penn’s

‘Rooms for Ronald’ Initiative in Central Pa.

HOLLIDAYSBURG, Blair County (Dec. 19, 2019) --- Pennsylvania’s nurse anesthetists are donating $4,000 to help the Mid-Penn Region of Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) with a new initiative to support the local chapter’s efforts to evolve the charity and its resources.

The local grant is part of $10,000 that the Pennsylvania Association of Nurse Anesthetists (PANA) is using to support each of the six RMHC houses in the commonwealth. Houses are located in Danville, Hershey, Pittsburgh and Scranton; Philadelphia has two houses. Each house will receive a $1,000 grant.

“PANA and Ronald McDonald House Charities share the same mission: to provide peace of mind and comfort to families and patients who require care,” said PANA President Angela DiDonato. “We want to do all we can to ensure families stay close during trying times, because it can ease strains and help with healing.”

RMHC provides families with housing near a hospitalized child.

In the Mid-Penn Division, however, where there is no home, the $4,000 will support the “Rooms for Ronald Program,” where the local chapter partners with participating hotels to provide families with rooming closest to the hospitals where their child is receiving care.

Helping a sick child fight their illness takes a big emotional toll on a family. Adding a financial strain can make it almost too much to bear. RMHC helps to address those problems, whether they involve housing that’s near a hospitalized child, the expense of staying together in another city, or even getting basic medical and dental care in a vulnerable community.

“This donation will directly assist our mission of keeping families together and near the care and resources they need as their children receive essential medical care,” RMHC Mid-Penn Board President Darin Tornatore said. “It also marks an important milestone in our evolution to possibly bring a home and/or signature initiative to central Pennsylvania, while simultaneously supporting a program that enables parents to stay close to their children in care.”

This is the second consecutive year that PANA has donated $10,000 to RMHC.

Pennsylvania has 13 nurse anesthetist programs, making it a leader nationally. Most of the programs are located in hospitals served by the six Ronald McDonald Houses.

PANA represents more than 3,700 certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) and students (SRNAs) in 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.

The Mid-Penn Division serves 13 counties in central Pennsylvania, including Blair, Cambria and other central counties.

For more information, visit www.PANA.org or www.rmhcmidpenn.org.

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PANA Supports U.S. Air Force Heritage Ball

On Saturday, November 2nd, the Pennsylvania Association of Nurse Anesthetists (PANA) was proud to support the inaugural U.S. Air Force Heritage Ball. Sponsored by the 911th Air Wing and the 911th Aeromedical Staging Squadron, the event was hosted by the Heinz Field Club in Pittsburgh.

More than 650 military and civic leaders attended this inaugural event. PANA Board Member, Lt. Col. (R) Laura Wiggins, DNP, MSN, CRNA, represented PANA. Speaking to the longstanding history and legacy of CRNAs in the military, Laura highlighted the contributions that Pennsylvania CRNAs make to military surgical teams.

Additionally, Lt. Col. Chuck Giordano, DNP, CRNA was lead planner of the Air Force Heritage Ball Event. The U.S. Air Force Museum Curator also attended with many military artifacts from the museum on display. One featured artifact was a parachute constructed for a military working dog during the Berlin Airlift (1948-1949). This rarely seen artifact allowed military dogs to actually “jump” from the aircraft.

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PANA AF Heritage Ball

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Valerie Gaydos, 44th District PA House o

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PANA was honored to serve as the headlining sponsor of the Air Force Heritage Ball, which helped defray costs for the junior enlisted members that were in attendance. Several non-military CRNAs attended to represent PANA’s continued support of all military members.

CRNAs were the first professional group to provide anesthesia in the United States and are the oldest recognized group of advanced practice registered nurse specialists in the country, with a history that spans to the Civil War.

Derek Reckard Named New PANA President

Derek Reckard, MSN, PHRN, CRNA, was named the new president of the Pennsylvania Association of Nurse Anesthetists on Oct. 20 at PANA’s fall symposium at Omni Bedford Springs Resort in Bedford, Pa.

Reckard has a long history of serving PANA and its members. He has been an active board member for five years.

Before being named PANA president-elect last year preceding his elevation to the top post this weekend, Reckard served as a board Trustee and was the association’s Federal Political Director. He also served on PANA’s Governance Committee, which included state government affairs, and was chairman of the committee for the last two years.

With that background, Reckard brings a firsthand knowledge of the importance of interactions between lawmakers and their constituents --- namely, the CRNAs who live in policy-makers’ home districts.

He helped to spearhead several drop-in days for CRNAs in both Harrisburg and Washington, D.C., where nurse anesthetists walked the halls of the state and federal Capitol buildings and talked directly to state legislators and congressmen.

Expect that tradition to continue during his one-year term in 2018-19.

Reckard said he is focused on increasing member engagement, as the coming year is the best time to launch the initiative. Both the state General Assembly and Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation expect record turnover.

That means there are plenty of opportunities for CRNAs to introduce themselves and the profession to these new elected leaders --- and to start building the bridges that are needed to enact policies that benefit CRNAs and the individuals they care for.

Reckard’s initiative, “Be a KEY Contact,” which stands for the “Keystone Engagement Year,” involves recruiting volunteers who will serve as leaders who then recruit other CRNAs into advocacy work.

Actions include visiting a new legislator’s district office, with PANA and government affairs support; hosting an event with other CRNAs in the area to talk about important issues; serving as the hospital spokesperson who talks with other CRNAs in the break room or who will simply share information around the watercooler about issues PANA is managing; and much more.

Information being shared could be about planned legislative votes, upcoming PANA elections, PAC fund-raisers, regional meetings or anything else of interest.

Reckard also knows the strength of PANA is its membership. Each year, more and more people are showing up at Capitol Days and getting engaged with legislative activities. If you have ideas about how to grow the “Be a KEY Contact” campaign, let him know.

It remains as important as ever for CRNAs to remain engaged. Not only will record numbers of new lawmakers be in office, but some of the most critical issues will still be pending when the new two-year legislative sessions kick off in January 2019.

PANA successfully defeated attempts in the legislative session that just ended to push through a “scope of practice” bill that would have mandated physician supervision of nurse anesthetists in Pennsylvania. It was a major victory. Expect the anesthesiologists to make another push at the bill in the new session.

Reckard also will continue the fight for professional designation, which would formally recognize certified registered nurse anesthetists as “CRNAs” under state statute. Pennsylvania is one of just two states without designation. New York is the other.

A designation bill did advance fully through the Senate, only to get caught up in the House, but the passage provided momentum to build on when the process restarts with a new General Assembly. And the committee chairman in the House who blocked the bill has retired. It creates opportunities.

Regardless of the legislative issue, or association business, Reckard is committed to making sure PANA does all it can for its members … and that its members do all they can to help the association advance the policies that will strengthen and enhance the profession for the benefit of CRNAs and patients alike.

Reckard replaces Jodie Szlachta, Ph.D., MSN, CRNA, who will remain on the board as immediate past president and continue to support the association’s legislative, policy, outreach and advocacy work.

Look for more information about Reckard and a personal presidential message on www.PANAforQualityCare.com after his installation.