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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2017 - 2018
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | March 16, 2018 04:46 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Michele Brooks |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Nurse Practitioners for Narcotic Treatment Providers and Clinics |
| In the near future I will be introducing a piece of legislation to allow detox and methadone facilities to hire a nurse practitioner to fulfill the requirement of having a medical director on staff. Currently, detox centers and methadone providers and facilities are required to have a physician on staff who is designated as a medical director to assume the responsibility for administering all medical services performed by the narcotic treatment program. The physician must have a certain amount of experience dealing with narcotic addiction and certified to treat addiction. My legislation would allow nurse practitioners to fulfill the requirement of having a medical director on staff to alleviate some of the burden on the treatment facilities. In rural and underserved areas there is often a shortage of physicians and this can result in very high costs for the provider. By allowing nurse practitioners to assume this role, it makes it easier for the facilities to continue their valuable services of helping those who are seeking treatment, while keeping costs down and easing the burden of locating a specific physician. Please join me in cosponsoring this legislation because providing better access to these vital treatment programs is an important step during this unprecedented opioid crisis. |