Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 244, S.D. 2, entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to establish a long-term care resource program initiative with Kapiolani Community College to develop a model for expanding the State's workforce capacity for home- and community-based long-term care.

Your Committee recognizes that Hawaii's population of individuals over sixty-five years of age is increasing at a rate that is two to three times higher than the national average. Yet, the number of nursing home beds in Hawaii is currently less than fifty per cent of the national average. A broader range of home- and community-based long-term care options is clearly needed to address this ever worsening situation.

A critical element for the expansion of home- and community-based long-term care options is the development of an adequate long-term care workforce. This entails improving the State's training capacity for paraprofessional health care workers, increasing education and training for family caregivers, and harnessing and promoting the productivity of the elderly themselves.

Your Committee finds that, as the flagship community college for nursing, long-term care, and allied healthcare and education, Kapiolani Community College is well positioned to play a major role in strengthening the State's capacity to increase long-term care options. The development of a long-term care resource model by Kapiolani Community College will greatly assist Hawaii in preparing for the increasing needs of the elderly, by ensuring the development of an adequate, trained long-term care workforce. Moreover, the dispersal of this model to other community colleges will ensure that Hawaii is prepared to meet home- and community-based long-term care needs statewide.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 244, S.D. 2, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.