HEALTH COMMITTEE TO HEAR TESTIMONY ON SMART GROWTH FOR MEDICAL FACILITIES IN THE STATE

WHO:             Representative John Mizuno, Chair, House Committee on Health

WHAT:          Informational Briefing to review viable options for smart growth for medical facilities, especially in rural areas of the State

WHEN:          Thursday, January 30

                        10:15 a.m.

                       

WHERE:       Hawaiʻi State Capitol

                        Room 329

Honolulu, Hawaiʻi –The House Committee on Health will hold an informational briefing to review viable options for smart growth for medical facilities, especially in rural areas of the State at 10:15 a.m. Jan. 30 in room 329 at the State Capitol.

In Hawaiʻi, the Health Resources and Services Administration reported that the counties of Hawaiʻi and Mauʻi each have an average deficiency of 25 full-time healthcare service professionals, while the county of Kauaʻi has a shortage of 13 full-time healthcare service professionals. These shortages are expected to worsen as physicians and nurses working in rural areas retire faster than new healthcare recruits can replace them. 

Simultaneously, the population in the State's rural areas has increased in recent years, even as the State's overall population has seen a decline. These two factors combined will lead to a worsening of the ratio between healthcare professionals to patients. The legislature recognizes that as this ratio worsens, so may patient quality of care.

To counteract this trend, the Certificate of Need (CON) is a state regulatory mechanism for prudently establishing or expanding healthcare facilities in a given area. The CON process aims to control healthcare costs by restricting duplicative services and ensuring criteria such as need, cost, quality, accessibility, availability, and acceptability are followed. Currently, Hawaiʻi is one of 36 states and Washington, D.C. which operate a CON program with wide variation state-to-state.

The rationale for imposing market entry controls is that regulation, grounded in community-based planning, will result in more appropriate allocation and distribution of health care resources and, thereby, help assure access to care, maintain or improve quality, and help control health care capital spending.

Invited to participate:

Department of Health, State Health Planning and Development Agency

Healthcare Association of Hawaii

National Kidney Foundation of Hawaii

Liberty Dialysis-Hawaii

US Renal Care

No public testimony will be accepted.