Legislature(2005 - 2006)BUTROVICH 205
04/27/2005 01:30 PM Senate HEALTH, EDUCATION & SOCIAL SERVICES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB225 | |
| HB120 | |
| Confirmation Hearings || University of Alaska Board of Regents | |
| Board of Pharmacy | |
| Alaska Mental Health Trust | |
| Board of Education and Early Childhood Development | |
| Board of Pharmacy | |
| Board of Dental Examiners | |
| Board of Professional Counselors | |
| Alaskan Dental Hygienists Association | |
| Alaska Board of Psychologists | |
| State Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy Board | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | HB 225 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 120 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HB 120-HEALTH CARE EMPLOYEE PROTECTION
CHAIR DYSON announced HB 120 to be up for consideration.
REPRESENTATIVE PEGGY WILSON, sponsor of HB 120, explained that
this bill repeals two exemptions from Alaska's Blood Borne
Pathogen Protection Standards to bring Alaska standards into
compliance with federal standards. Alaska adopted its blood
borne regulations in 2000 and in 2001 the federal government
adopted theirs. Overall, Alaska's regulations are stronger and
tighter than the federal regulations except in two areas. Those
are dental and health care offices with less than 25 full time
employees. This bill is really a housekeeping bill that ensures
that state statutes are equal to the federal guidelines and it
is mainly for the purpose of qualifying for certain federal
grants.
CHAIR DYSON asked if the medical community has weighed in on
this bill.
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON replied that the Department of Labor and
Workforce Development, the Nurses Association, the Alaska Dental
Society and the Alaska Hygienists Society all support this bill
and no one is against it.
CHAIR DYSON asked if the Alaska Medical Association has taken a
position on it.
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON replied that they have not commented on
the bill.
CHAIR DYSON asked Dr. Funk, Department of Health and Social
Services (DHSS), if she is aware of anyone who takes exception
to this bill.
DR. BETH FUNK, Acting Chief, Epidemiology Section, Division of
Public Health, Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS),
replied that she is not aware of anyone.
GREY MITCHELL, Director, Labor Standards and Safety Division,
Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DOLWD), said:
Currently we are having some difficulty with our
federal counterparts who provide us with grant funds
to carry out our program - and that is specifically
because under the agreement that the Alaska
Occupational Safety and Health Program was created
under in 1970, we agreed that we would maintain
standards that were at least effective as federal
standards. And this is an area where we are not
meeting the minimum federal standards because we are
exempting dental offices and small medical offices.
So, to kind of straighten that out, we've taken those
two exemptions off of the list and essentially we
haven't heard any negative comments. The dental
community has come out in support of the bill. Small
medical offices haven't voiced any opposition to it.
Our in-the-field personnel in the industrial hygiene
area have essentially been guiding these businesses
toward compliance with federal requirements already.
And the overwhelming consensus is that they are
already in compliance with federal standards.
2:22:12 PM
SENATOR ELTON asked if he is correct in believing that all of
the entities that fall under the scope of this bill are already
required to be in compliance with federal regulations and thus
this bill is not going to aggrieve anyone any more than they are
already aggrieved.
MR. MITCHELL replied that he is correct.
JOHN BITNEY, Alaska Nurses Association, supported HB 120.
SENATOR OLSON asked if a particular problem caused this issue to
come to light.
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON replied there was none that she was aware
of and that, "This is just something that needs to be taken care
of." The impact of this legislation is not expected to be
significant for two reasons. One is that the businesses
currently exempt under the Alaska law are already complying with
federal requirements and also the participation required for the
front-line health care workers in the evaluation process is
automatic.
SENATOR OLSON asked how this bill would affect health aides in
rural Alaska who are minimally trained and under-funded and
often do not have adequate, much less state-of-the-art,
equipment. He said one village he visited last year didn't even
have sterile suture equipment.
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON replied that she was not sure. She assumed
they are required to be trained and that would fall back under
the umbrella of who is in charge of them and who oversees what
they do.
SENATOR WILKEN asked Representative Wilson to state her
professional background for the record.
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON replied that she is a registered nurse and
a former Emergency Medical Technician III who practiced in rural
Southeast Alaska. She personally understands the importance of
protection for yourself and your patients.
SENATOR WILKEN moved to report HB 120 out of committee with
individual recommendations and attached fiscal note. There were
no objections and it was so ordered.
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