Profile

Sen. Patricia H. Vance is the only member of the Legislature who is a professional nurse. She has been a member of the Senate since 2005 after serving 14 years in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

Vance is a graduate of the Harrisburg Hospital School of Nursing and served as the Cumberland County Recorder of Deeds from 1978 to 1990.

In the Senate, she is chair of the Public Health and Welfare Committee and a member of the Appropriations, Banking and Insurance, Finance, Communications and Technology, and Policy committees. She also serves on the Capitol Preservation Committee and Intra-Governmental Council on Long Term Care.

Since becoming a member of the Senate, she has authored eight laws. These laws include granting immunity to employers who respond in good faith with reference information on current or former employees; streamlining foreign adoption procedures; requiring nurses to obtain 30 hours of continuing education every two years; and blending the state's prescription drug program for low-income seniors with Medicare Part D.

While a member of the House, she authored more than a dozen laws. These laws include creating a HMO bill of rights; prohibiting discrimination against domestic violence victims by insurance companies merely because they were the victims of abuse; expanding of the Commonwealth’s prescription drug program for 100,000 low-income seniors; granting parents the authority to be involved in the drug and alcohol treatment decisions of their minor children; and requiring municipal zoning boards to send written notice to adjacent property owners stating proposed rezoning plans and to notify them of public hearing dates before any zoning changes are made.

She has received numerous awards for her legislative and community stewardship. These include the Distinguished Service to Families Award from the Mid-Atlantic Council on Family Relations, the Friend of Public Education Award from the Council on Public Education, the Public Policy and Advocacy Achievement Award from the Central Pennsylvania Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation, and the 2008 Advocate for Child Health Legislative Award from the Pennsylvania State Education Association – School Nurse Section. In addition, she was one of 30 women honored statewide as making domestic violence history by the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence to mark its 30th anniversary and was the 2006 Community Leader of the Year from the Cumberland Valley Eagle Foundation.

Vance continues to be active in her community as a member of several charitable, community and religious organizations, including as a board member of the Stabler Foundation and Caring Place.

She also serves on the Holy Spirit Hospital Capital Region Maternal Assistance Committee and United Cerebral Palsy Advisory Committee, and is a member of St. James Presbyterian Church.

She maintains a district office at 3806 Market St., Camp Hill, and at 59 West Louther Street, Carlisle.