Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara announced several bills he helped pass last session to increase access to health care services throughout New York’s rural areas have been signed into law.

“Our health care providers have consistently worked to support our communities throughout the pandemic,” Assemblyman Santabarbara said. “These new measures will help address rural health care shortages by bolstering ambulance services and ensuring more health care employees can effectively deliver care in emergency situations. With the new session now underway, as chair of the Legislative Commission on Rural Resources, improving the quality of health care in rural New York communities remains a top priority.”

Santabarbara sponsored legislation establishing the New York State Rural Ambulance Task Force to examine, evaluate and make recommendations concerning ambulance services in rural communities (Ch. 778 of 2021). He also helped pass a law allowing air ambulances to carry and transfuse blood products during air transport (Ch. 779 of 2021). Before this law took effect, New York was the only state in the nation that prevented air ambulances from carrying blood and transfusing patients in hemorrhagic shock. Emergency medical services are often the first line of defense for rural communities and these new laws will help bolster these lifesaving care providers. To further support local families, Santabarbara also helped pass a new law that creates new enrollment opportunities for organ and tissue donations by allowing people to register as a donor online (Ch. 743 of 2021).