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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Paul Lyon, Spokesman, (570) 574-3089
DATE:
June 20, 2006
Group Accuses Santorum of ‘Patently
False’
Statements on NEPA Neurosurgical Care
KINGSTON
,
Pa.
(June 20, 2006) – A victims’ rights group today blasted U.S. Senator
Rick Santorum for falsely claiming “people are dying” in
Northeastern Pennsylvania because “there are no neurosurgeons” left
in the region. In fact, there are 20 neurosurgeons on staff at the
region’s seven hospitals.
“Rick Santorum is deliberately misleading the
public and causing panic in order to push his pro-insurance industry
‘tort reform’ agenda,” said Paul Lyon, a spokesman for The
Committee for Justice for All. “His statements about the availability
of neurosurgical care in
Northeastern Pennsylvania
are patently false, shameless and reprehensible.”
During the annual luncheon of the Dauphin County
Commissioners on Monday, which was broadcast on the Pennsylvania Cable
Network (PCN), Santorum stated: “In Northeast Pennsylvania, there are
no neurosurgeons ... You have to go to Philadelphia, you have to go to
Allentown, you have to come down here (Harrisburg) … People are dying
in Northeastern Pennsylvania because they show up at emergency rooms
with head and neck trauma and they can’t get a surgeon. And so they
have to be Life-Flighted somewhere and guess what? They die.”
The region’s seven major hospitals, however, list
20 neurosurgeons on staff, including many who handle emergency trauma
cases. In fact, two of the area’s hospitals –
Community
Medical
Center
in
Scranton
and Guthrie Clinic in Sayre – are designated regional trauma centers.
The following is a list of the area’s hospitals
and names of the neurosurgeons on staff:
·
Community
Medical
Center
,
Scranton
– Dr. Pamela Costello and Dr. Shripathi P. Holla (Trauma)
·
Mercy
Hospital
,
Scranton
– Dr. Phillip J. Hlavac and Dr. Shripathi P. Holla
·
Moses
Taylor
Hospital
– Dr. Pamela Costello, Dr. Shripathi P. Holla and Dr. Robert J.
Sarnowski
·
Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre (formerly
Mercy
Hospital
) – Dr. Douglas Chyatte, Dr. Bruce Wilder, Dr. Joseph Williams and Dr.
Richard Pratt. All are available for trauma cases, according to the
hospital.
·
Geisinger
Wyoming
Valley
Medical
Center
,
Wilkes-Barre
– Dr. John Presper
·
Wilkes-Barre General
Hospital
– Dr. Carlo M. de Luna, Dr. Kevin M. Cockroft, Dr. Mark S. Dias, Dr.
Kimberly Sue Harbaugh, Dr. James McInerney, Dr. G. Timothy Reiter and
Dr. Jonas M. Sheehan. All were recruited to help provide neurosurgical
care at the hospital as part of a cooperative venture with
Penn
State
Milton
Hershey
Medical
Center
.
·
Guthrie HealthNet (which has clinics in Sayre and
Tunkhannock) – Dr. Carson Thompson, Dr. Rein Anton, Dr. Erik Gregorie
and Dr. Jeffrey Avery.
“For years now, politicians like Rick Santorum
have been scaring the people of
Pennsylvania
into believing their access to health care is in jeopardy,” said
Lyon
. “Time and again, however, their statements have been proven
deliberately misleading and, in this case, outrageous and
inflammatory.”
CJA is a nonprofit
Northeastern Pennsylvania
advocacy group fighting to preserve the
integrity of the civil justice system and the Constitutional right of
all Americans to trial by a jury of their peers. For more information,
visit our web site at www.saynotocaps.org.
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