REPORT TITLE:
Hospice Services


DESCRIPTION:
Authorizes the department of health to license hospice service
agencies and to allow hospice homes with five or fewer beds in
residential areas.  (HB172 HD1)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        172
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO HOSPICE SERVICES.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that death is often
 
 2 accompanied by pain that is severe enough to make living
 
 3 unbearable.  On the other hand, an interdisciplinary approach to
 
 4 the palliation of pain can in most instances bring relief,
 
 5 comfort, and dignity during one's final days.  Hospice care
 
 6 facilitates pain management.  Its goal is to make dying as
 
 7 comfortable as possible for the person dying, and for family and
 
 8 friends.
 
 9      Hospice is a service that can be delivered at home, in a
 
10 free-standing unit operated by the hospice, in nursing or care
 
11 homes, or even in beds set aside in acute care hospitals.  It is
 
12 a philosophy that accepts that an illness has progressed to a
 
13 terminal stage, and death cannot be avoided even with aggressive
 
14 medical treatment.
 
15      The legislature further finds that virtually every study of
 
16 hospice care has concluded that:
 
17      (1)  The primary benefit of hospice care is increased
 
18           patient satisfaction; and
 

 
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 1      (2)  Hospice care almost always costs less than either
 
 2           hospital care or other forms of acute care at the end
 
 3           of life.
 
 4      If pain management is improved and hospice care increased,
 
 5 many of Hawaii's health care providers believe that few people
 
 6 would consider physician-assisted death or physician-assisted
 
 7 suicide, which may be viewed as "desirable" when pain is not
 
 8 controlled and when the patient foresees being in a sterile or
 
 9 strange hospital or other residential program.
 
10      The governor's blue ribbon panel on living and dying with
 
11 dignity unanimously recommended, among other things, that:
 
12      (1)  Hospice care be made more available and offered more
 
13           expediently to the dying; and
 
14      (2)  Effective pain management programs be required in all
 
15           health care institutions.
 
16      In line with the blue ribbon panel's unanimous
 
17 recommendation, the legislature finds it necessary to ensure
 
18 consistent, high-quality hospice care is maintained.
 
19      The purpose of this Act is to authorize the department of
 
20 health to license hospice service agencies and to allow hospice
 
21 homes with five or fewer beds in residential areas.
 
22      SECTION 2.  Chapter 46, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended
 

 
 
 
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                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to
 
 2 read as follows:
 
 3      "§46-     Hospice homes; permitted use in residential areas.
 
 4 (a)  For the purposes of zoning, hospice homes shall be
 
 5 considered a residential use of property and shall be a permitted
 
 6 use in all residentially designated zones, including but not
 
 7 limited to zones for single-family dwellings.  No conditional use
 
 8 permit, variance, or special exception shall be required for
 
 9 residences used as hospice homes.
 
10      (b)  For the purposes of this section, "hospice home" means
 
11 any facility operated by a licensed hospice service agency
 
12 providing twenty-four hour living accommodations to no more than
 
13 five unrelated persons who are admitted to the hospice program of
 
14 care."
 
15      SECTION 3.  Chapter 321, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended
 
16 by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to
 
17 read as follows:
 
18      "§321-     Hospice services.  (a)  The department of health
 
19 is authorized to license hospice service agencies.
 
20      (b)  For the purpose of this section:
 
21      "Hospice" means a hospice service agency or the provision of
 
22 hospice services in an in-patient facility or a hospice home.
 
23      "Hospice home" means any facility operated by a licensed
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 hospice service agency providing twenty-four hour living
 
 2 accommodations to no more than five unrelated persons who are
 
 3 admitted to the hospice program of care.
 
 4      "Hospice service" means a program of palliative and
 
 5 supportive care for terminally ill persons and their families or
 
 6 caregivers.
 
 7      "Hospice service agency" means an agency or organization, or
 
 8 a subdivision of that agency or organization, which is engaged in
 
 9 providing hospice services at the place of residence of its
 
10 clients."
 
11      SECTION 4.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
12 New statutory material is underscored.
 
13      SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.