THE SENATE

S.C.R. NO.

143

TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the hawaii State Legislature to review the State health Planning and Development Agency's role in the planning and development process to determine how the agency can be involved more aggressively in identifying health care goals and articulating an overall health care vision for the State.

 

 

     WHEREAS, Act 159, Session Laws of Hawaii 1975, established the State Health Planning and Development Agency (SHPDA) and its Statewide Health Coordinating Council; and

 

     WHEREAS, Act 152, Session Laws of Hawaii 1976, further amended the law to establish the Subarea Health Planning Councils; and

 

     WHEREAS, Act 152 also stated that the purpose of the Act was to ensure the pragmatic health planning of the State by providing a permanent vehicle for citizen input into the health planning process so that "the total health services plans of the State will be based on informed decision-making."; and

 

     WHEREAS, in the following three decades, SHPDA has evolved into the primary planning and development agency for Hawaii's second largest industry -- health care; and

 

     WHEREAS, it has done so largely through its regulatory powers and the mandatory process of determining health service needs, which is by its very nature a passive process; and

 

     WHEREAS, dramatic and significant changes have occurred in the health care industry and related technologies, allowing health care assessment and treatment even when patient and physician are separated geographically; and

 

     WHEREAS, the health care industry in Hawaii currently finds itself at a critical juncture in its ability to provide all of Hawaii's citizens with affordable and reliable access to adequate health care; and

 

     WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii presents unique geographic challenges in the delivery of adequate health care services to all of its citizens; and

 

     WHEREAS, more than thirty years have passed since the establishment of SHPDA and the need for a review of its mission and role in the State's health care planning process is long overdue; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2008, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Legislature is requested to review SHPDA's role in the planning and development process to determine how the agency can be involved more aggressively not only in identifying health care goals and articulating an overall health care vision for the State, but also in advocating for needed changes in the health care industry in the State of Hawaii, and using its regulatory authority to influence and realize these goals; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature establish a task force, consisting of representatives from the Legislature, SHPDA, and the local health care industry, to oversee the review; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Administrator of the State Health Planning and Development Agency.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

SHPDA; Legislative Review