Share:
Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | May 30, 2023 11:02 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Frank A. Farry |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact |
| I will soon be introducing companion legislation that would authorize our Commonwealth to join the Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact. This legislation would help address the dental healthcare workforce shortage by making it easier for dentists and hygienists who hold a license in good standing from another state to come to Pennsylvania to practice. Today in the United States, 68 million Americans live in an area suffering from a shortage of dental providers. A November 2022 report from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration designated 24 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties as dental shortage areas and another 39 counties as having partial dental shortage areas. The American Dental Association’s Health Policy Institute data on active dentists shows that over the last 10 years, Pennsylvania has consistently fallen below the national average on the number of dentists for every 100,000 residents. The compact will benefit dentists and hygienists, and most importantly patients, by expanding opportunities to enter new markets where dental healthcare is needed most; regulators will see reduced administrative burdens and greater public safety though a shared data system; and the Commonwealth will see an enhanced dental healthcare workforce and greater consumer access to highly qualified practitioners. Please join me in co-sponsoring this important legislation. |
Introduced as SB895