HLS 16RS-5143 ORIGINAL
2016 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 230
BY REPRESENTATIVE WILLMOTT
HEALTH SERVICES: Requests a study of means by which to enhance access to health
services in health professional shortage areas
1 A RESOLUTION
2To urge and request the Department of Health and Hospitals to coordinate a study effort
3 with select healthcare workforce development stakeholders to identify means by
4 which to enhance access to needed health services in health professional shortage
5 areas.
6 WHEREAS, pursuant to authority provided in the Public Health Service Act, the
7United States Department of Health and Human Services may officially designate
8geographic areas with a pronounced shortage of primary medical care, dental services,
9mental health providers, or any combination of these as "health professional shortage areas";
10and
11 WHEREAS, certain population groups, regardless of whether they are associated by
12geography, can also be officially designated as health professional shortage areas; and
13 WHEREAS, in the aggregate and relative to the size of its population, Louisiana
14encompasses among the most extensive health professional shortage areas of all U.S. states,
15and such areas exist in both rural and urban communities of this state; and
16 WHEREAS, forty-nine Louisiana parishes are designated in their entirety as health
17professional shortage areas, and eight additional parishes are designated partially as such
18shortage areas; and
19 WHEREAS, as evidenced in part by the final adoption and concurrence of House
20Concurrent Resolution No. 170 of the 2015 Regular Session and House Concurrent
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HR NO. 230
1Resolution No. 22 of this 2016 Regular Session, the legislature has expressed serious
2concern regarding the issue of access to health care in this state; and
3 WHEREAS, the dire effects on health and well-being of the people of this state
4resulting from lack of access to health care are self-evident problems; and
5 WHEREAS, resolving these problems is an urgent public health priority of this state;
6and
7 WHEREAS, due to the abundance of public health research expertise among staff
8in the office of public health of the Department of Health and Hospitals, this office is
9uniquely qualified to coordinate a study effort to identify means by which to enhance access
10to needed health services in Louisiana's health professional shortage areas.
11 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
12Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge and request the office of public health of the
13Department of Health and Hospitals to coordinate a study effort to identify means by which
14to enhance access to health services in the health professional shortage areas of this state.
15 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the study shall include an assessment of the
16impact of Medicaid expansion in Louisiana on overall access to health services; as well as
17means by which to deliver health care to the newly eligible Medicaid population, currently
18estimated to be approximately three hundred thousand persons, in the most efficient and
19effective manner.
20 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in conducting the study, the office of public
21health may engage, collaborate with, and obtain information and perspective from
22organizations with expertise in healthcare workforce development including but not limited
23to the following:
24 (1) The Louisiana Workforce Commission.
25 (2) The Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center at New Orleans.
26 (3) The Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center at Shreveport.
27 (4) The Southern University School of Nursing.
28 (5) The Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners.
29 (6) The Louisiana State Board of Nursing.
30 (7) The Louisiana Primary Care Association.
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HR NO. 230
1 (8) The Louisiana Public Health Institute.
2 (9) The Louisiana Hospital Association.
3 (10) The Rural Hospital Coalition.
4 (11) The Louisiana Association of Nurse Practitioners.
5 (12) The Louisiana State Medical Society.
6 (13) The Community Provider Association.
7 (14) The Louisiana Nursing Home Association.
8 (15) AARP Louisiana.
9 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the department shall provide the findings of the
10study requested in this Resolution in the form of a report to the House Committee on Health
11and Welfare and the House Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations no later than thirty
12days prior to the convening of the 2017 Regular Session of the Legislature.
13 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
14secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals, the executive director of Louisiana
15Workforce Commission, the chancellor of the Louisiana State University Health Sciences
16Center at New Orleans, the chancellor of the Louisiana State University Health Sciences
17Center at Shreveport, the dean of the Southern University School of Nursing, the executive
18director of the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners, the executive director of the
19Louisiana State Board of Nursing, the executive director of the Louisiana Primary Care
20Association, the chief executive officer of the Louisiana Public Health Institute, the president
21of the Louisiana Hospital Association, the executive director of the Rural Hospital Coalition,
22the president of Louisiana Association of Nurse Practitioners, the chief executive officer of
23the Louisiana State Medical Society, the executive director of the Community Provider
24Association, the executive director of the Louisiana Nursing Home Association, and the state
25director of AARP Louisiana.
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HR NO. 230
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)]
HR 230 Original 2016 Regular Session Willmott
Urges and requests the Dept. of Health and Hospitals to coordinate a study effort with select
healthcare workforce development stakeholders to identify means by which to enhance
access to needed health services in health professional shortage areas.
Provides that the department shall report findings of the study to the House Committee on
Health and Welfare and the House Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations no later
than 30 days prior to the convening of the 2017 R.S.
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