Sacred Heart Students In Fairfield Participate In 'PT Day At The Capitol'

NORWALK, Conn. -- L. Roger Silva, a member of the Connecticut Chapter of the American Physical Therapy Association and coordinator of the Physical Therapist Assistant Program at Norwalk Community College, led students from the PTA Program at NCC to participate in an event called “PT Day at the Capitol.”

A physical therapy student with state Rep. Mitch Bolinsky from Newtown on PT Day at the Capitol in Hartford.
Photo Credit: *Twitter*

Sandra Diamond Fox

03/12/2016 5:00 a.m.

The event, which took place on March 1, also included PT and PTA students from Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, as well as students from Naugatuck Valley Community College, UCONN and Quinnipiac University. Also included in the event were members of the CTAPTA, and Licensed Physical Therapists and Physical Therapist Assistants.

One of the lawmakers on hand to meet with the physical therapy students was state Rep. Mitch Bolinsky from Newtown.

The event celebrated 10 years of direct access to Physical Therapy services in Connecticut.

On June 2, 2006, Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed into law changes in state statute to allow patients to see a physical therapist directly without a physician referral. The bill went into effect several months later on Oct. 1, 2006.

Direct access for physical therapy was first considered by the Connecticut General Assembly back in 1987 and faced opposition for a number of years.

Senate Bill 164 was finally passed by the state’s Public Health Committee, Judiciary Committee, Senate and the House in 2006, leading up to Rell’s signing of the final bill, PA06-125, into law.

At the March 1 event, the NCC students and Silva had an opportunity to meet with State Senators and Representative to discuss the benefits of Physical Therapy.

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