THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	155
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2010		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

REQUESTING THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO REVIEW THE GUARDIANSHIP PROCESS WITH RESPECT TO THE ISSUE OF PATIENTS IN HOSPITALS WHO ARE WAITLISTED FOR POST-ACUTE CARE.

     WHEREAS, the current lengthy process of guardianship requires certain patients to be waitlisted in hospitals for extended periods after they have been treated and are well enough to be transferred to post-acute care; and

     WHEREAS, these waitlisted patients receive care at an inappropriate level and unnecessarily incur the high costs of acute care when they could be receiving appropriate care at a much lower cost; and

     WHEREAS, the current process of requesting guardianship begins in the hospital, where legal teams within the hospital prepare paperwork to request a guardian and a hearing through the Office of the Public Guardian; and

     WHEREAS, for non-urgent cases the process of requesting guardianship can take up to sixty days, and is then followed by a post-hearing assignment of a public guardian that may take up to an additional three weeks; and

     WHEREAS, an existing process used by the Judiciary for emergency guardianship determinations is limited to medical emergencies, so discharge planning arrangements do not qualify for the expedited process; and

     WHEREAS, in the interim, hospitals are left to locate family or friends who are willing to serve as decision-makers on behalf of patients as they await the scheduling process to begin for a guardianship hearing; and

     WHEREAS, the timeframe to complete the usual guardianship determination process contributes to delays in transferring waitlisted patients from acute to post-acute care settings, which in a number of cases has resulted in lost placement opportunities; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-Fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2010, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Attorney General is requested to review the current guardianship process and to work with the Healthcare Association of Hawaii to develop an expedited process for patients in hospitals who are waitlisted for post-acute care and ready for discharge once a guardian has been identified; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Attorney General is requested to make efforts to initiate changes that can be made without the necessity of amending the law; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Attorney General is requested to submit a report to the Legislature of findings and recommendations, including proposed legislation, not later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2011; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the Chief Justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court, the Attorney General, the Director of Health, the Director of Human Services, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Healthcare Association of Hawaii.

Report Title: 

Attorney General; Guardianship Process; Post-Acute Care