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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2015 - 2016
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | February 24, 2016 03:01 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Matthew E. Baker and Rep. Eli Evankovich |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Restore Vital Funding for Poison Control Centers |
| In the near future we will be introducing legislation that will restore critical funding for Pennsylvania’s Poison Control Centers, which was eliminated as part of Governor Wolf’s line-item veto of House Bill 1460 (Act 10A of 2015). The Commonwealth is fortunate to be home to two outstanding Poison Control Centers, which are located at The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). These centers are a vital resource in Pennsylvania, serving the needs of parents, members of the general public and health care professionals by providing comprehensive, quality and efficient care of poisoned patients. Each year, these centers at UPMC and CHOP save over $30 million dollars in emergency department utilization and ambulance transport alone. In 2013, the centers managed 63,268 exposures at home. Without their services, these patients would have been left to pursue a different source of information, management and reassurance likely through emergency departments and at significant cost to the individual or state. Prior to the governor’s veto, House Bill 1460 appropriated $714,000 for the two regional centers at UPMC and CHOP. This appropriation provides supplemental funding to these centers so that they can provide emergency poison information 24 hours per day, seven days per week. This appropriation represented an important investment for these institutions and the people they help each day. Unfortunately, the governor’s veto left these centers with no support from the state. Please join us in considering this legislation to restore these important funds to help provide necessary health care support for Pennsylvanians. |
Introduced as HB1889