TARR AMENDMENT SEEKS MORE NURSES, MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS

2/21/06 

BOSTON – Senate Minority Whip Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester) said today that he was successful in amending “An Act Supporting Access and Excellence in Public Higher Education in the Commonwealth,” SB 2371 approved by the Senate last week, to foster the development and retention of more nurses and other medical service professionals in Massachusetts.

Citing the current and ongoing shortage of nurses in the state, Tarr said, “As we invest in and develop a stronger public system of higher education, we must take action so that public colleges and the University of Massachusetts can mobilize to generate the medical service professionals our health care system depends on.”

          Tarr said that his amendment, which focuses on the next ten years, would ensure that health care plays a central role in the evolution of the public higher education system.  Specifically, it would create a diverse commission to evaluate the current and future availability of medical service professionals, and then develop, evaluate, and recommend strategies for increasing that availability. 

Incentives such as reduced tuition or loan forgiveness can be powerful tools for recruitment and retention, and we need to put them to work in our state schools in the most productive way to create the skilled professionals that are needed to sustain quality health care,” said Tarr, who is the ranking Republican on the Joint Committee on Higher Education.

 S. 2371 is currently awaiting action in the House of Representatives.

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