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To all AAPA members in New York,
Two separate bills that affect Pathologists’ Assistants have been passed in the New York Legislature this summer. We urge our members to contact the Governor’s Office regarding one of these two bills.
Extending the limited license, however, is a temporary measure for addressing a defect in the New York clinical laboratory licensing system. Pathologists’ Assistants in New York still lack an appropriate licensure category.
The second bill offers an appropriate long term solution by creating a new licensure category for Pathologists’ Assistants in the Education Law and requiring clear standards for their practice that would be enforced by the State Education Department (NYSED). This would ensure only qualified individuals could undertake Pathologists’ Assistant responsibilities, which would protect public health, these valued professionals, and the institutions they serve.
This second bill, A10408/S7932, also recently passed both houses of the Legislature. It will be sent to the Governor for signature sometime between now and the end of the year.
We urge our members in New York to send memos to the New York Governor’s Office asking the Governor to sign this bill. Also, please ask any sympathetic laboratory administrators, hospital administrators, and Pathologists to support this effort as well.
When contacting the Governor’s Office, please refer to Bill A10408/S7932, passed during the 2015-2016 Legislative session. Use this link to the Governor’s Office.
This legislation is necessary because, despite their importance, Pathologists’ Assistants in New York lack an appropriate licensure category. Their only current alternative is to try to qualify for various categories of laboratory personnel covered by the Clinical Laboratory Technology Practice Act (CLTPA), none of which reflect the education, training, and expertise of these highly trained individuals.
Sincerely,
Rosie Falcon, MS, PA(ASCP)
Legislative Adjunct to the Board of Trustees
[email protected]
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