The Select Committee for Open-Heart Surgery pursuant to House Resolution 415 began its work during the summer of 1996. They held two public hearings. The first, held in Harrisburg, concentrated on testimony by doctors and regional hospital executives. The second concentrated on testimony by heart specialists and patients who had undergone open-heart surgery and was held in Philadelphia. The official transcript is available for researchers via the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Public Hearing Database.

Included in the collection are two folders of correspondence. Much of the correspondence is to and from members of the Select Committee regarding scheduling and other administrative details, but there is some important information regarding the Cardiovascular Surgery Task Force recommendations which House Resolution 415 was created to review and support for and criticisms against the work of the Select Committee for Open-Heart Surgery pursuant to House Resolution 415.

Finally, this collection contains two final reports, both of which were completed in November 1996. The first, issued by the majority members of the Select Committee, is entitled House Select Committee for Open-Heart Surgery: Report of Findings. The second report is: Report of the Minority Members of the Select Committee established by House Resolution 415 to Review Open-Heart Surgery in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Both of these reports are available in our Digital Library.