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THE SENATE |
S.C.R. NO. |
93 |
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TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2005 |
S.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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RESOLUTION
urging hawaii health systems corporation to establish urgent child and adolescent psychiatric services at maui memorial medical center in the form of crisis stabilization services.
WHEREAS, the Molokini unit of Maui Memorial Medical Center, which opened in January, 1996, responded to community needs for urgent psychiatric care of children and adolescents; and
WHEREAS, the Molokini unit experienced small and continually fluctuating census since opening, resulting in significant financial challenges for Maui Memorial Medical Center; and
WHEREAS, the Molokini unit closed its doors on July 1, 2004, leaving Maui families and their children in crisis and forced to seek help on the island of Oahu; and
WHEREAS, the need for urgent children's psychiatric care is a variable commodity and creates multiple financial and operational challenges for community hospitals; and
WHEREAS, a part of the Maui system of care for children and adolescents includes the establishment of community children's councils to afford parents, community members, and local service providers like Maui Memorial Medical Center a means to develop effective community partnerships; and
WHEREAS, in order to provide sustainable urgent psychiatric care, psychiatrists specializing in child and adolescent care must be available and willing to provide on-call coverage on a twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week basis; and
WHEREAS, the Department of Health has an obligation to assess and monitor the State's public health needs; and
WHEREAS, a sustainable resolution involves multiple stakeholders working collaboratively including, the Department of Health, Hawaii Health Systems Corporation, insurers, and community members; now therefore
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Health and Hawaii Health Systems Corporation facilitate a stakeholder group to develop and implement crisis stabilization services at the Maui Memorial Medical Center; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the development process of the crisis stabilization services include the following integral elements:
(1) That the stakeholder group assists the Maui Memorial Medical Center in assuring that the crisis stabilization services are reimbursable services from third party payors;
(2) That Hawaii Health Systems Corporation develops a timeline for initiating urgent children's crisis stabilization services;
(3) That the stakeholder group addresses the possibility of implementing tele-psychiatry services to assist the Maui Memorial Medical Center in assuring adequate child psychiatry services;
(4) That the stakeholder group explores a partnership with Tripler Army Hospital's Psychiatry Department; and
(5) That the stakeholder group explores collaborative arrangements between psychologists, pediatricians, primary care providers, and psychiatrists to ensure that coverage is available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health and Hawaii Health Systems Corporation submit a report of the stakeholder group's activities and include any findings and recommendations to the Legislature not less than twenty days before the convening of the regular session of 2006; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health, the Chief Executive Officer of the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation, the Chief Executive Officer of the Maui Memorial Medical Center, the Chief of Psychiatry at Tripler Army Hospital, the Executive Director of the Mental Health Association of Maui, the Hawaii Psychological Association, and the Hawaii Psychiatric Medical Association.
Report Title:
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services