Magee Rehabilitation Hospital recently announced that State Senator Christine M. Tartaglione is a new member of its Board of Trustees.

Senator Tartaglione was elected to the State Senate in 1994, becoming only the fifth woman in Pennsylvania state history to win election to the State Senate. She served as Democratic Chair of the Aging and Youth Committee and is currently Democratic Chair of the Labor and Industry Committee. She also is a member of the Senate Appropriations, Banking and Insurance, Law and Justice, Democratic Policy, and State Government Committees. Issues important to senior citizens, children and working families are her main focus, and her efforts have resulted in the recent raising of Pennsylvania’s minimum wage and in the establishment of the Office for People with Disabilities in the Governor’s Administration.

A graduate of Peirce Junior College, where she earned Maxima Cum Laude honors, Senator Tartaglione began her public service career as an assistant to Philadelphia City Councilwoman Joan Krajewski from 1986-1989. From 1989-1992, she served as a Senior Executive Assistant to State Treasurer Catherine Baker Knoll. Prior to her election to the Senate, she held the position of Business Representative for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1776.

The Magee Rehabilitation Hospital Board of Trustees adds to a long list of local boards and committees which Senator Tartaglione has served on, including the Temple University Health System Episcopal Hospital, PATH (People Acting to Help), Empowerment Zone Board, Impact Services Corporation, the President’s Advisory Council of the American Street Corridor Business Association, and the PenJerDel “Rebuild the Delaware Valley” Steering Committee and the Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis, Inc. She has been widely recognized for her dedication to public service, receiving the “John F. Kennedy Memorial Award” from the Kennedy Foundation for her involvement in Mental Health/Mental Retardation Programs and the “Woman of the Year” honor from both the Retired Police, Firemen and Prison Guard Association of Philadelphia and Philadelphia Area Project on Occupational Safety and Health.