STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3904
Honolulu, Hawaii
S.D. 1
President of the Senate
Thirty-Second State Legislature
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Health and Human Services, to which was referred H.C.R. No. 172 entitled:
"HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE DIRECTOR OF HEALTH TO CONVENE A WORKING GROUP TO ADDRESS ISSUES RELATING TO PATIENT TRANSFER AND AMBULANCE SERVICES AND EVALUATE POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the Director of Health to convene a working group to address issues relating to patient transfer and ambulance services and evaluate potential solutions.
Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Medical Association, Air Methods Corporation, Hawaii Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians LLC, and one individual.
Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Health and American Medical Response.
Your Committee finds that patients on Oahu and the neighbor islands are currently experiencing significant delays in receiving necessary health care while waiting for transfer to a facility that can provide a higher level of care. Your Committee further finds that only one company, Hawaii Life Flight, offers air ambulance services for neighbor islands, and that American Medical Response is the sole private ground ambulance and primary provider of inter-facility transport on Oahu, considering that Honolulu Emergency Medical Services' primary focus is emergency 911 responses. Your Committee additionally finds that the input, expertise, and collaborative efforts of the many stakeholders involved in providing care to patients throughout the State is necessary to develop and evaluate potential solutions to address issues with the current patient transfer and ambulance system. Therefore, this measure requests the convening of a working group to allow relevant stakeholders to collaborate to address these issues and evaluate potential solutions.
Your Committee has
amended this measure by:
(1) Clarifying
that the stakeholders requested to be invited to serve on the working group as
transportation service providers include current and future air and ground
transportation service providers;
and
(2) Making
technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and
consistency.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health and Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of H.C.R. No. 172, as amended herein, and recommends its adoption in the form attached hereto as H.C.R. No. 172, S.D. 1.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health and Human Services,
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________________________________ JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair |
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