The Pennsylvania Association of Nurses and Allied Professionals, representing more than 9,000 frontline nurses and healthcare professionals across the commonwealth, endorses sitting state Rep. Austin Davis for Lieutenant Governor and U.S. Congressman Conor Lamb for U.S. Senate in the upcoming Democratic primary.
“Two years into a pandemic that has severely stressed our healthcare system and thinned the ranks of bedside caregivers, Pennsylvanians need a team in the governor’s office that prioritizes excellence in patient care and the health and safety of frontline caregivers,” said PASNAP president Maureen May, RN, a long time Temple University nurse, regarding Davis. “You cannot separate those things. They go hand in hand.
“Rep. Davis and his running partner, candidate for governor Attorney General Josh Shapiro, understand our need to work with those at the highest level of state government to improve conditions at the bedside for all patients and all frontline healthcare professionals in Pennsylvania.”
Davis, whose sister is a nurse at UPMC McKeesport, appeared with PASNAP’s ACMH Hospital nurses on their picket line recently as they fought for a new contract that prioritizes safe staffing and therefore patient care. The son of a union bus driver, he heard their concerns, stood with them in solidarity and pledged his support for their fight and their strike.
In his current role as a state legislator, Davis strongly supports PASNAP’s top two priorities: passage of legislation to enact minimum safe staffing nurse-to-patient ratios to protect patients and frontline caregivers; and passage of legislation that would require healthcare facilities to be proactive in preventing violence against employees.
“Direct care providers are the backbone of our healthcare system here in Pennsylvania, something that became even more clear during the COVID-19 crisis,” said Davis. “Over the past two years, Pennsylvanians have seen direct care providers step up to ensure that all of us receive the care we need, saving countless lives through their heroism. It is for this reason I could not be more proud to receive PASNAP’s endorsement for my campaign for Lieutenant Governor, and it is my commitment that I will look out for our healthcare providers the way they look out for us every single day.”
In 2016, PASNAP endorsed Davis’ running mate, sitting Attorney General Josh Shapiro, in Shapiro’s inaugural race for PA Attorney General. PASNAP again endorsed him when he ran for reelection in 2020. This year, PASNAP is endorsing him a third time in his bid to become the Governor of Pennsylvania.
As for Lamb, a former marine and federal prosecutor, he won three bids for the U.S. House of Representatives. According to PASNAP, Lamb is known as a coalition builder who can reach across the aisle, bring people together and get things done.
“Now more than ever, we need partners at the highest levels of government who are unafraid to fight for the critical issues healthcare professionals have advocated for for decades – excellence in patient care and the health and protection of frontline caregivers – and who can bring broad coalitions together to support them,” said May. “Direct-care givers take an oath: ‘First, do no harm.’ But excellence in patient care is impossible unless you prioritize the health and protocols of frontline caregivers, who have suffered and sacrificed in equal measure during the pandemic, with safe staffing levels and safe working conditions. You cannot have one without the other.”
Lamb is a vocal advocate for better working conditions and safe staffing levels for healthcare professionals. He supports guaranteed minimum nurse-to-patient ratios at the bedside – a PASNAP priority. He also co-sponsored and voted for the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers (H.R. 1195), which would require the Department of Labor to address workplace violence in healthcare settings – another PASNAP priority – and has pledged to work for its passage in the Senate.
Lamb also co-sponsored and voted with a majority of the U.S. House to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, the first bipartisan bill in generations to reform labor laws and protect and expand workers’ rights to organize, bargain collectively and ensure they’re treated with the respect and dignity they deserve, and has pledged to work for the bill’s passage in the Senate.
“I’m honored to be endorsed by PASNAP,” said Lamb. “Nurses and healthcare professionals are among the fastest growing jobs in Pennsylvania, and PASNAP is at the forefront of the fight to make sure healthcare providers on the front lines get the respect and safe working conditions they deserve for the essential work they do. I am proud to join them in that fight, and excited to have them joining our team in this campaign as we continue to build momentum in the final weeks of this primary.”
