Longtime CRNA Champion Sen. Gordner Retires

Pennsylvania Sen. John Gordner, R-Columbia County, is resigning his Senate seat on Wednesday to become counsel to interim President Pro Tempore Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland County. 📷 File/Mark Pynes

State Sen. John Gordner, a Republican who has represented parts of northcentral Pennsylvania for the past three decades, will vacate his 27th Senatorial District seat on Nov. 30 to take a new role among the Senate leadership. He announced his decision Monday.

Gordner has been a longtime champion of nurse anesthetists, sponsoring the Senate measure (S.B. 416) that became law (Act 60 of 2021) last legislative session, granting formal title recognition to the state’s CRNAs.

Because of his work—and after more than a decade of legislative advocacy by CRNAs around the state—nurse anesthetists finally got the recognition they deserve. Until then, Pennsylvania had been one of just two states that failed to recognize “certified registered nurse anesthetist” in some form, meaning CRNAs were recognized only as registered nurses.

Besides title recognition, Act 60 also expanded the providers that CRNAs are permitted to work with to include podiatrists, and it clarified regulatory language as it pertains to physician involvement with anesthesia services, formalizing the status quo.

The push to formally recognize CRNAs was a family affair for Gordner.

His mother, Shirley (Kishbaugh) Gordner, was among just three student nurse anesthetists who comprised the first class at Williamsport Hospital and, in 1954, successfully completed examinations for membership in the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA).

Gordner isn’t leaving the legislature entirely. He will become counsel to interim Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland County, whose own daughter is a CRNA in another state.

💙On behalf of PANA, we extend a heartfelt thank you to John Gordner for all he did and congratulated him and wish him the best of luck in his new role.

BACK TO THE FUTURE! Governor Signs Ceremonial Professional Designation Bill

More than a year after Gov. Tom Wolf signed into law Act 60 of 2021, which granted formal title recognition to the state’s Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs), members of the Pennsylvania Association of Nurse Anesthetists (PANA) got to join the state’s top executive for a ceremonial bill signing at the Capitol Building.

Public bill signings were halted during the COVID-19 pandemic and only recently restarted, with PANA visiting Harrisburg on Sept. 20, 2022. Even though it was delayed in coming, the ceremony still made for a glorious day. Act 60 remains one of the biggest legislative achievements in a generation for CRNAs and SRNAs in Pennsylvania --- one that took more than a decade to secure.

With no definition for nurse anesthetists under the state’s Professional Nursing Law, CRNAs were recognized only as registered nurses. Now, with Act 60, everyone knows us for who we are and what we train to be --- Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists.

Thank you again to every CRNA and SRNA in Pennsylvania, and to dedicated PANA board members and trustees, for everyone’s tireless advocacy to get this law across the finish line and significantly advance our profession.

Learn more about the issues at www.PANAforQualityCare.com. Click on “Legislative Updates.”

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CRNA Professional Designation Bill Signed into Law

Pennsylvania Association of Nurse Anesthetists

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

HARRISBURG (June 30, 2021) --- If you are a practicing certified registered nurse anesthetist in Pennsylvania --- and there are more than 3,000 of these health-care professionals in the commonwealth --- then you are finally recognized as a “CRNA.”

Gov. Tom Wolf today signed into law Act 60, which grants formal title recognition to the state’s certified registered nurse anesthetists.

Until this moment, Pennsylvania had been one of just two states that failed to recognize “certified registered nurse anesthetist” in some form. With no definition for nurse anesthetists under the state’s Professional Nursing Law, CRNAs were recognized only as registered nurses.

That all changed with the governor’s signature.

The enactment also marks the end of a lengthy legislative push by CRNAs who have fought for more than a decade to secure professional recognition of their advanced education, specialized training, and clinical skills.

“This is a monumental victory,” said Matt McCoy, DNP, CRNA, President of the Pennsylvania Association of Nurse Anesthetists (PANA), which represents more than 3,700 CRNAs and students in the commonwealth.

“Every day we go into work from this point forward will be a new day for CRNAs in Pennsylvania,” he said. “I am so proud of the job our CRNAs do and so impressed by the time they put in outside of work to advocate for this change in law. This is a shared victory among our entire profession.”

Both the House and Senate passed identical companion measures --- House Bill 931 sponsored by Rep. Tarah Toohil (R-Luzerne) and Senate Bill 416 sponsored by Sen. John Gordner (R-Columbia) --- within days of each other in early June.

Gordner has had previous measures pass the Senate only to stall in the House --- until this year. His legislation finally made it through both chambers and to the governor’s desk.

“We could not be more grateful to the persistence of Senator Gordner and for the support both Senator Gordner and Representative Toohil have shown us over the years,” McCoy said.

Besides title recognition, the measure also expands the providers that CRNAs are permitted to work with to include podiatrists, and it clarifies regulatory language as it pertains to physician involvement with anesthesia services, formalizing the status quo. The measure also includes cooperation language to define the relationship CRNAs have with their physician colleagues.

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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