HLS 15RS-3080 ORIGINAL
2015 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 165
BY REPRESENTATIVE HUNTER
HEALTH CARE/FACILITIES: Directs Department of Health and Hospitals to require by
rule that obstetricians be on the premises of or on call for all free-standing birthing
centers during the operating hours of those centers
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2To authorize and direct the Department of Health and Hospitals to require by rule that an
3 obstetrician either be on the premises of each free-standing birthing center during the
4 operating hours of the birthing center or be on call for the center during those times;
5 and that each obstetrician who staffs a free-standing birthing center, whether as an
6 employee or a contractor, shall possess an unrestricted license to practice medicine
7 and active admitting privileges at a hospital that is located not further than thirty
8 miles from the birthing center.
9 WHEREAS, as evidenced by administrative rulemaking undertaken recently by the
10Department of Health and Hospitals, referred to hereafter as "DHH", Louisiana may soon
11begin to license a new type of healthcare facility known as a "free-standing birthing center";
12and
13 WHEREAS, a free-standing birthing center, as defined by DHH, is a facility which
14has as its primary purpose the performance of low-risk deliveries, and which is not a hospital
15or licensed as part of a hospital, at which births are planned to occur away from the mother's
16usual residence following a low-risk pregnancy; and
17 WHEREAS, in a notice of intent DHH published in accordance with the
18Administrative Procedure Act in April of 2015 concerning licensure of this type of facility
19(LR 41:806 (Apr., 2015)), the department proposed that each of these facilities shall have
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HCR NO. 165
1on staff at least one of the following professionals, who shall attend each woman in labor
2from the time of admission through birth and the immediate postpartum period:
3 (1) A licensed obstetrician.
4 (2) A family practitioner.
5 (3) A certified nurse midwife.
6 (4) A licensed midwife; and
7 WHEREAS, per these proposed rules, having obstetricians attend women who give
8birth at free-standing birthing centers is an option for each center, not a requirement; and
9 WHEREAS, the rules also stipulate that free-standing birthing centers shall not
10administer general or epidural anesthesia; and
11 WHEREAS, a low-risk pregnancy is not a guarantee of an uncomplicated delivery,
12as many women have carried a baby to term with no health issues, only to experience a
13delivery in which their babies' lives or their own lives were jeopardized suddenly by
14unexpected problems; and
15 WHEREAS, as physicians who have completed medical residencies and received
16surgical training, obstetricians are the health practitioners who are best qualified to manage
17problems that may arise during labor; and
18 WHEREAS, DHH states in its notice of intent on free-standing birthing center
19licensure that a purpose of the proposed rules is to reduce costs to the state's Medicaid
20program; and
21 WHEREAS, a far greater priority to this state than cost savings should be protection
22to the utmost degree of the health of a woman and her baby before, during, and after labor
23and delivery, regardless of the woman's income level.
24 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
25authorize and direct the Department of Health and Hospitals to require by rule that an
26obstetrician either be on the premises of each free-standing birthing center during the
27operating hours of the birthing center or be on call for the center during those times; and that
28each obstetrician who staffs a free-standing birthing center, whether as an employee or a
29contractor, shall possess an unrestricted license to practice medicine and active admitting
30privileges at a hospital that is located not further than thirty miles from the birthing center.
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HCR NO. 165
1 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health and Hospitals is
2hereby directed to provide further by rule that each free-standing birthing center be
3authorized to administer general and epidural anesthesia.
4 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
5secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HCR 165 Original 2015 Regular Session Hunter
Directs the Dept. of Health and Hospitals to require by rule that an obstetrician either be on
the premises of each free-standing birthing center during the operating hours of the birthing
center or be on call for the center during those times; and that each obstetrician who staffs
a free-standing birthing center, whether as an employee or a contractor, shall possess an
unrestricted license to practice medicine and active admitting privileges at a hospital that is
located not further than thirty miles from the birthing center.
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