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Please contact Angie Armbrust if you plan on attending.

Make your plans NOW for the PANA Spring Symposium at the Hotel Hershey

April 7-9, 2006

Before the Hershey Symposium,
9th Annual Spring Scramble,
Iron Valley Golf Club

Hello Pennsylvania CRNA's
February is many peoples least favorite month of the year. The weather has us wanting to climb into a cave and hibernate. Well not the PANA! Big things are happening in our organization.

PANA Lobby Day at the Capitol a huge success! Tuesday, January 24th

Folks, the CRNA's, SRNA's, and our Lobby, the Winter Group did a phenomenal job this year at the State Capitol in Harrisburg. This years goal was to visit with those Representatives who had the most CRNA's in their districts, inform them of who CRNAs are, what services they provide for that legislator’s constituents, and to inform them of our scope of practice bill—HB 1066. Angie Armbrust reports they spent most of the day visiting and discussing CRNA services, roaming the Senate halls, introducing themselves and inviting legislators and staff to attend a reception that the PANA sponsored in the Main Rotunda that evening. There was a greater then average turnout for our event. Nice work PANA! Enough to get a few more sponsors for HB 1066, and encourage the sponsors to request a public hearing in the Lancaster area for the middle of February to move our bill along.
Some quotes from attendees:

• "I was so personally impressed with our student turnout this year! It seems that more and more schools are getting the message and fostering involvement that is necessary to keep the association and our profession alive and well. We also proclaimed a very happy birthday to our beloved Tom Kelly, CRNA who celebrated his 50th in person at our lobby day!"
  - PANA President Michael Kinslow
• "My experience in Harrisburg helped to reinforce the importance of supporting our profession and ensuring that the recognition of the CRNA is established at all levels of government. The future of the nurse anesthetist will be determined by legislation and our commitment to promote positive change."
  - Ryan Volk SRNA Class of 2006
  Wyoming Valley Health Care/ University of Scranton
  School of Nurse Anesthesia
• "Thank you for the opportunity to participate in the lobbying effort for House Bill 1066. It was an educational and eye opening experience. I was left with the feeling of appreciation for the work of my predecessors and a need to commit myself to the current and future legislative concerns of our profession."
  - Gregory J. Makuch SRNA Class of 2006
  Wyoming Valley Health Care System/ University of Scranton
  School of Nurse Anesthesia

How'd Your Plans for CRNA Week Go?

Is it just me, or did this week go faster then usual? Just barely got my plans made, when I found it was over. The AANA kits were a great help in letting hospital staff know what was going on, but did anyone use them elswhere? Send your short reports on your individual or group efforts to celebrate CRNA week. No party is too small to notice! The PANA Public Relations chair, Michael Conti CRNA, would love to get your report. Please send him copies of any photos you could spare too! Not to nag, but you can still tack this black and white poster up on every telephone pole in your neighborhood!

Links

Last issue I spent time introducing the employment opportunity page. If your looking for a new position, or thinking of moving to another city in PA, please take the time to look at the opportunities listed. Another free service to PANA member CRNAs are the continuing education pages. If your hospital, or group is sponsoring an educational meeting, why not use this page to let others know. PA CRNA's only need login to add their meetings to the list. Spot is available to list any and all information about the meeting that you feel will encourage attendance. Links to Mapquest.com make it easy to locate the exact location of your situation. It's fairly under utilized now, but one of my goals for this year is to encourage everyone to use it.

Note From HGSA about Billing for MAC Anesthesia

• 00520 Anesthesia for closed chest procedures; (including bronchoscopy) not otherwise specified
• 00740 Anesthesia for upper gastrointestinal endoscopic procedures, endoscope introduced proximal to duodenum
• 00810 Anesthesia for lower intestinal endoscopic procedures, endoscope introduced distal to duodenum

From the Webmaster

Michael Loomis CRNA