Does this mean another raise for Cytology? Our Cytology department got a 30%
raise last year! We got 2%. I'm sick of it! <-- sorry, venting.
Respectfully,
Bruce Gapinski HT(ASCP)
		-----Original Message-----
		From:	Weems, Joyce [mailto:JWEEMS@sjha.org]
		Sent:	Thursday, October 25, 2001 6:40 AM
		To:	'Histonet'
		Subject:	FW: Personnel Shortage

		This is an email I received from my Director regarding the
Congressional
		Bill. Perhaps it will help clarify the email sent by Glenda
Hoye
		. 
		The bill does specifically mention Histology and Cytology. 
		Send your response to  ElissaP@ascls.org

		or call or fax as below.

		We all need to speak out! Next year is a BIG election year.
Use that to our
		advantage. We need to speak directly to our Senators and
Representatives
		also - emails, voice mails, etc. 

		I belong to the Advocacy Committee - I will forward things
along as I see
		relevance. (Excuse us, Dear Friends outside the USA!)

		God bless us everyone! 

		Joyce Weems
		Pathology Manager
		Saint Joseph's Hospital of Atlanta

		Subject:	Personnel Shortage

		Hi Everyone,

		As this Congress winds down its work, there is some concern
that H.R. 1948
		will not be enacted.  In addition, since there never was a
Senate bill, it
		is unlikely that any of it would be implemented.  In
meetings that we
		(ASCLS) have been having with the College of American
Pathologists, we have
		discussed what it would really take to fix the shortage.
The College's
		contacts on the Hill have indicated that they believe that
there is a
		shortage but that loan forgiveness programs aren't really
going to fix the
		problem.  David Fowler reported that Secretary Thompson
(HHS), as part of a
		video conference on anthrax, stated four different times
about the
		difficulty the labs were having with keeping up with the
amount of work and
		stated that this was a concern that was brought to his
attention and needs
		to be addressed. He also stated that he needs some direction
about the best
		way to help the labs.   As David said, this is the time for
us to tell folks
		what is needed for the short and long term to make sure that
the public gets
		the level of testing and quality that they deserve.  CAP
agrees and is
		trying to get a meeting with the Secretary for the two
organizations (and
		other organizations that might want to attend).  CAP is
asking us to come up
		with some really effective strategies to fix this shortage
so that CAP can
		endorse them and we can all be sending the same message.
Therefore, we need
		to do some brainstorming.   We know that salary and
recognition are two
		crucial contributors to the shortage.  But are there other
things?  And what
		is the answer?

		So, please talk among yourselves, share this email with as
many folks as you
		would like but get back to David and/or I with:

		a. what is contributing to the shortage (with some
prioritization of the
		list)
		b. what will really fix it?  (including money - but money
where - to just
		the hospitals, to education programs, to ? where)

		Please get back to us as soon as possible but no later than
Oct 31. Thanks!


		Elissa Passiment
		ASCLS Executive Vice President
		301.657.2768, X3015
		301.657.2909 (fax)
		7910 Woodmont Ave, #530
		Bethesda, MD 20814-3015