State Sen. Maria Collett, Also A Nurse, Celebrates Additional Funding For Nurse Program

HARRISBURG — A local state legislator, who is also a Registered Nurse, is celebrating additional funding that was provided to a nurse student loan relief program, dollars that were allocated following the recent passage of the program into law.

State Sen. Maria Collett, a Democrat who represents the 12th Senatorial District in parts of Montgomery and Bucks Counties, has praised an additional $15 million in funding for Pennsylvania's Student Loan Relief for Nurses program.

The legislation, HB 253, recently passed the state House and Senate unanimously, and Collett and Gov. Tom Wolf recently put out a promotional video touting the benefits of the program.

Patch reported on that video here.

Last week, Collett delivered remarks in support of the proposal soon before its passage.

On Jan. 25, the bill was amended in the Senate Appropriations Committee to allocate $225 million of American Rescue Plan dollars to health care workforce supports, including the $15 million of additional funding to the nurse loan relief program, according to the senator's office.

"During the pandemic, we've seen a mass exodus of health care workers retiring early, moving away from clinical and bedside settings and flat-out leaving the field because of the added physical risks and mental strain put on them during COVID, not to mention the added risk to their patients caused by chronic short staffing," Collett had stated in her remarks. "Our nurses and direct care workers have done a phenomenal, and frankly awe-inspiring, job of responding to an ongoing pandemic with limited resources which makes them the heroes that they are. But words only go so far when it comes to showing our health care workers that they are needed and valued."

Collett said last week's "swift vote" on the legislation for the student nurse loan program was evidence that leaders in Harrisburg can work together in a bipartisan way to address "real and urgent issues facing Pennsylvanians."

"I have urged my colleagues to join me to push our legislative leaders and the administration for even more funding to support programs like SLRN that will attract and keep health care workers — and other essential workers — on the job," Collett stated. "I am hopeful that this is just the beginning."