PHCA honors elected leaders with Legislative Champion Award

HARRISBURG, Pa. (Dec. 15, 2021) — Nursing homes, assisted living communities and personal care homes remain at the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout the past two years, long-term care has called for legislative action to support hundreds of thousands of residents and frontline caregivers. On Wednesday, long-term care providers recognized 11 elected leaders serving in the Pennsylvania Senate, House of Representatives and the U.S. Congress who have stepped up to advocate for support, supplies and solutions.

The Pennsylvania Health Care Association (PHCA) Legislative Champion Award acknowledges the commitment of those serving Pennsylvania seniors and their providers of care.

“The COVID-19 pandemic presented immense challenges for providers of long-term care in Pennsylvania,” said Zach Shamberg, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Health Care Association. “But as we attempted to combat those challenges, our legislative champions emerged and cleared a seat at the table for providers to both address concerns and develop solutions. And it was those legislative solutions that helped long-term care providers, workers and residents persevere through the most trying time in our history.”

Examples of solutions championed by legislators in 2020-21 include Pennsylvania entering the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC), the creation of a long-term care HVAC grant program, access to and distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE), funding sources for COVID-19 costs, and workforce initiatives, such as a temporary nurse aide (TNA) transition program, a hybrid-learning nurse certification program, and worker recruitment and development legislation focused on in-demand occupations.

PHCA presented the Legislative Champion Award to legislators during the association’s December board meeting. The honorees are:

• U.S. Congressman Fred Keller (12th Congressional District)

• Pennsylvania Senator Lisa Boscola (Lehigh/Northampton)

• Pennsylvania Senator Michele Brooks (Crawford/Erie/Mercer/Warren)

• Pennsylvania Senator Jake Corman (Centre/Huntingdon/Juniata/Mifflin)

• Pennsylvania Senator Judy Ward (Blair/Cumberland/Franklin/Fulton/Huntingdon)

• Pennsylvania Senator Kim Ward (Westmoreland)

• Pennsylvania Senator John Yudichak (Luzerne/Carbon)

• Pennsylvania Representative Kerry Benninghoff (Centre/Mifflin)

• Pennsylvania Representative Bryan Cutler (Lancaster)

• Pennsylvania Representative Gary Day (Berks/Lehigh)

• Pennsylvania Representative Stan Saylor (York)