HAWAII ACEP LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
As emergency physicians we open our doors to anyone in need, functioning as a safety net for society and caring for some of the most vulnerable members of our community. In this role, we have witnessed the devastating consequences of healthcare inequity made only more prominent by the outbreak of the COVID pandemic. To continue to benefit our patients and colleagues, we select legislative priorities that will be the focus of our advocacy effort each year, listed below. Priorities are intentionally consistent year to year with some modifications. This allows HACEP to focus on impactful, long-term goals that may take many years to appropriately address.
I. 2023 Congressional Session
- Create a Statewide System to Coordinate Patient Transfers: Emergency departments and hospitals outside of the state capitol have run into severe challenges transferring patients to a location with the appropriate level of care. Lack of coordination, limited bed space, and prolonged wait times create life-threatening and sometimes fatal situations for our patients. We support development of an organized, simple, and efficient transfer system throughout the state to avoid these devastating consequences.
- Reduce the Physician Shortage: Improve access to physical and mental healthcare across Hawaii. We believe that every patient has the right to high quality healthcare that is both affordable and accessible. We support legislation that provides evidence-based solutions to address accessibility, including increased recruitment of physicians and advanced practice providers to reduce the provider shortage, and community-based research to identify barriers to care.
- Increase Dialysis Capacity: Hawaii currently has more patients requiring dialysis than resources available to safely manage end stage kidney disease. A severe shortage of nephrologists and dialysis beds often leads to significant delays in appropriate care. We support sustainable expansion of dialysis capacity throughout the state.
- Expand Home Health Services: Patients who are medically stable are often held in the emergency department and hospital due to lack of appropriate support at home. Patients requiring additional services such as in-home assistance, an assisted-living facility, or a nursing home often face prolonged delays due to a shortage of staff and facilities. These delays lead to increased boarding and overcrowding, limiting the capacity of the emergency department to see and manage new patients. We support legislative initiatives to increase the availability of home health services to ensure our patients have the necessary support to safely leave the hospital.
- Expand Behavioral Health and Substance Abuse Treatment Resources: We strongly advocate for a comprehensive, wrap-around behavioral health care system including mental health screening and preventative care, outpatient maintenance treatment, and crisis stabilization. We support expansion of substance abuse treatment resources and education. Recognizing the impact that homelessness plays in mental health disorders, we also support measures that offer evidence-based solutions to improve housing security for those at risk of homelessness, provide safe housing for those experiencing homelessness, and reduce the likelihood of recurrent homelessness.
II. 2022 Congressional Session
- Improve access to physical and mental healthcare across Hawaii- We believe that every patient has the right to high quality healthcare that is both affordable and accessible. We support legislation that provides evidence-based solutions to address accessibility, including increased recruitment of physicians and advanced practice providers to reduce the provider shortage, and community-based research to identify barriers to care.
- Expand available behavioral health and substance abuse treatment resources- We strongly advocate for a comprehensive, wrap-around behavioral health care system including mental health screening and preventative care, outpatient maintenance treatment, and crisis stabilization. We support expansion of substance abuse treatment resources and education.
- Reduce rates of homelessness- Recognizing the profound impact homelessness has on health and well-being, we prioritize measures that offer evidence-based solutions to improve housing security for those at risk of homelessness, provide safe housing for those experiencing homelessness, and reduce the likelihood of recurrent homelessness.