Welcome to the New AMTA Pa website! The board has listened to your requests for information; this new website is easier to read and has a better flow for everyone to follow! We will continue to send e-mail blasts to keep you updated as well as posting new items on the web site. The site will be more current than it has been in the past. Each Unit will be able to update their page with the results of their meetings and “coffee chats” on the site as well.
The Government Relations page will have the Q and A about licensure and all updates regarding licensure issues.
The Activities page has all of the areas in which you as a member can get involved. Sharing your AMTA experience can help make your practice even stronger. Come and join with your fellow members and help others at the same time. Contact the coordinator of each activity for more instructions.
Check out the archive section for photos that will be posted of the various events that the AMTA Pa is involved in. If you are doing something in your town and would like to have it posted please send it to us we love to share with everyone what our members are doing! Be sure to include names and details.
The 2009 Massage Therapy Conference registration is now open. You can book online now for the conference! We look forward to seeing you there.
If there is something that you would like to see added please let us know, the more you put into your membership the more you will get back! We want you to have the best member experience possible and look forward to your feedback on our new site.
Sincerely,
AMTA Pa Chapter President
Gina Washlaski
Our licensure is now official! The PA governor has signed our bill
HB 2499 and it is now law. We have been asked many questions regarding
grandfathering and requirements for licensure. We are in the process of
updating our web site info to answer many of these questions. Some of the
questions are listed below. Click on the questions about licensure link to read
them. We are all very excited to share this wonderful time and information
with you!
Some of the questions that we have received cannot be answered until the Governor has selected the Licensure Board, and that board has set the rules and regulations. We will work with the Licensure board in every way possible to continue our commitment in moving the profession forward. We look to you our members for support in doing so. Please contact us if you would like to get more involved with our Government Relations committee we are looking for a person to Chair the committee and 3 people to assist in making phone calls and writing letters and a possible community awareness event. If you are interested please contact Brenda Schuck at this address. Brenda will be working with our immediate past president Nancy Porambo while the licensure board is being selected and will need all the help and support that we can give!
Gina Washlaski
President
UPDATE (October 2008): Victory! HB2499, our Massage Therapy Licensing Bill, had successfully made it through the Senate Professional Licensure Committee with a vote of 12 to 2 on Sept. 17, 2008. Next stop, made it through the Appropriations Committee with a unanimous vote 26 to 0, on Oct. 7, then sailed through the Senate with a vote of 47 to 3 on Oct. 8, then signed by the House for concurrence 191 to 8 later that day, then traveling right to our Governor’s office to be signed into law. I want to send a special Thank You to all of you who have made phone calls, sent e-mails and supported us in our quest. Without everyone’s help this would not have been possible! Yes, we have waited 16 long years for this moment in Massage Therapy history in Pennsylvania to take place. HB 2499 has received tremendous support from AMTA members and from members of other National organizations alike, as we now have closure to our 16-year endeavor.
AMTA PA will continue to keep you informed and updated by enhancing our website www.AMTAPA.org, creating a “question and answer” format for you in order to answer questions that you may have regarding the meaning of the language in our bill, i.e. grandfathering, continuing education, testing, etc. HB2499 was a carefully crafted compromise between numerous health care organizations and will now launch us into a higher level of Massage Therapy practice.
It is time to celebrate. We have made history in Pennsylvania!
As most of you know, I have committed myself to the pursuit of licensure for the last 16 years and I stumbled many times over the hurdles that accompanied licensure. Becoming familiar with the infrastructure of governance, the political environment, establishing communication with legislators and understanding other stakeholders’ interests was both an education and a revelation. Through all the challenges that this monumental process presented, I never lost site of our common purpose, to represent the interests of all massage therapists across the state. I am confident that the current legislation will allow the practicing massage therapist to experience a seamless transition to a newly licensed environment. Although the pursuit of licensure has indeed consumed the vast majority of my tenure as President and member of the PA Chapter, AMTA, I look forward to promoting the profession of massage therapy in different ways. For instance, the 2009 PA Chapter Conference is shaping up to be a dynamic and exciting educational opportunity and I am honored to be a part of the planning. I will also continue to serve the National organization as the 2008 Chapter President’s Council Moderator and rest assured, I won’t be far away when legislative issues come up that affect the massage therapy profession in PA.
In closing, I would like to say thank you for allowing me to serve as your President. Your influences have helped to reshape my outlook on so many things and I have grown both professionally and personally through your support and participation.
As Bob Hope so eloquently said, ‘thanks for the memories.”
Nancy M. Porambo, MS
Past President
