Harkin Welcomes Senate Passage of Legislation to Support Pediatric Medical Education

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement after the Senate approved the Children’s Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act (CHGME).  Harkin, Ranking Member Lamar Alexander (R-TN), and Committee Members Robert P. Casey, Jr. (D-PA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Johnny Isakson (R-GA) led the effort to reauthorize the CHGME program.  The legislation passed the Senate HELP Committee in October and the full Senate late Tuesday.

“Keeping our nation’s children healthy starts with making a strong investment in children’s hospitals and the programs that help to train the next generation of doctors serving them,” Harkin said. “The CHGME program has been a critical source of support in helping to grow the number of doctors who choose to become general pediatricians and pediatric specialists, training them to provide everything from well-child visits and preventive care, to the most complex cardiac surgeries. I am pleased the Senate has acted to continue our commitment to this vital program and urge my colleagues in the House to pass this bill and send it to the President’s desk for his signature.”

The Children’s Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act supports graduate medical education at children’s hospitals around the country and gives children’s health a critical boost by growing the number of doctors who choose to become pediatricians and pediatric specialists.

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