STAND. COM. REP. NO. 137
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2005
RE: S.B. No. 1537
S.D. 1
Honorable Robert Bunda
President of the Senate
Twenty-Third State Legislature
Regular Session of 2005
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 1537 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR ON-CALL EMERGENCY CARE SERVICES AT THE QUEEN'S MEDICAL CENTER,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this measure is to support the continuing operation of the State's only Level II Trauma Center located at The Queen's Medical Center on Oahu.
Specifically, this bill makes a one-time appropriation of $6,900,000 in fiscal year 2005-2006 and the same amount in fiscal 2006-2007, to The Queen's Medical Center to pay for the costs it incurs to compensate physicians to be on-call to provide trauma and emergency medical services for the people of Hawaii, including neighbor island patients. The appropriation is contingent upon the immediate and continuing acceptance by The Queen's Medical Center of patients from the neighbor islands needing trauma care, whether or not those patients are transferred from another medical facility on another island and whether or not they are insured.
This bill also requires the Legislative Reference Bureau, in cooperation with The Queen's Medical Center, to complete a study of the on-call crisis and its impact on the Level II Trauma Center's ability to continue delivering emergency medical services to our community.
Your Committee received testimony in support of this bill from the Queens' Medical Center, the Queens' Health Systems, the Healthcare Association of Hawaii, the Vice President of Medical Affairs of The Queen's Medical Center, the Program Director of the University of Hawaii Surgical Residency Program, the Associate Medical Director of Trauma Services of The Queen's Medical Center, the Medical Director of the Neuroscience Institute of the Queens' Medical Center, Molokai General Hospital, the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation, and two individuals. The Department of Health submitted testimony in support of the intent of the bill, provided that it does not adversely impact or replace priorities in the Department's executive 2006-2007 biennium budget. The Legislative Reference Bureau submitted comments.
Your Committee finds that the Queen's Medical Center provides the community with a substantial amount of charitable care, education and training programs for the University of Hawaii's School of Medicine and the School of Nursing, cutting edge technology, mental and behavioral health programs, dental services, and other specialized medical services. Your Committee recognizes that the Center faces many competing priorities and the health services it provides to the community are being challenged by rising operating expenses and significant capital needs. Your Committee further realizes that the high cost of securing a large pool of trauma physician specialists on an on-call basis at the Center has created a financial crisis.
Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this bill by:
(1) Replacing the $6,900,000 appropriation amount with a blank amount for purposes of stimulating further discussion;
(2) To emphasize the significance of the trauma services provided, by:
(A) Adding the words "trauma and" in front of the phrase "emergency care services" on page 1, line 9, page 4, line 4, and page 4, line 7; and
(B) Replacing the phrase "emergency medical services or acute" with the word "trauma" on page 3, line 11; and
(3) Replacing the Legislative Reference Bureau with the Department of Health as the entity to conduct the study, in cooperation with The Queen's Medical Center, because your Committee finds that the Department has the requisite knowledge, experience, and expertise in the matter and can act with impartiality since it does not operate any competing hospital facilities.
Your Committee also deleted the extraneous word "of" on page 5, line 10, and made technical nonsubstantive changes on page 4, lines 5-19 for purposes of clarity and style.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1537, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1537, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health,
____________________________ ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair |
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