Louisiana 2022 2022 Regular Session

Louisiana House Bill HR155 Introduced / Bill

                    HLS 22RS-4331	ORIGINAL
2022 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 155
BY REPRESENTATIVE TURNER
HEALTH CARE:  Forms a study group to evaluate options and make recommendations for
reforming healthcare workforce training and development in this state
1	A RESOLUTION
2To create and provide for a study group to evaluate options and make recommendations for
3 reforming healthcare workforce training and development in this state and to report
4 its findings concerning these matters to the House of Representatives of the
5 Legislature of Louisiana.
6 WHEREAS, Louisiana's healthcare professionals are indispensable to our families
7and communities; and
8 WHEREAS, because healthcare workforce needs are ever-changing, our state must
9implement reforms to create a dynamic system for identifying and fulfilling these needs; and
10 WHEREAS, fostering the training of sufficient numbers of healthcare professionals
11such as physician assistants and nurse practitioners, as well as allied health professionals
12who work in primary care settings, will assist in making primary care services more
13accessible to the people of our state; and
14 WHEREAS, in conjunction with existing programs for the training of family
15physicians, renewing efforts to increase the ranks of highly trained physician assistants,
16nurses, and allied health professionals practicing in Louisiana will lead to a much-improved
17healthcare delivery system for our state; and
18 WHEREAS, community hospitals, rural hospitals, and other health systems offering
19healthcare workforce training in affiliation or association with accredited institutions of
20higher education will help in meeting the need for health care in our state's many health
21professional shortage areas and medically underserved communities; and
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1 WHEREAS, because Louisiana has a pronounced shortage of nurses, and this
2shortage has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, stimulating a greater supply of
3nurses and improving career ladders for these essential healthcare workers are vital public
4health priorities of this state; and
5 WHEREAS, this state would benefit from a thorough study which identifies the
6parties who have responsibility for oversight of educational programs that produce
7healthcare professionals and yields recommendations concerning the extent to which
8healthcare professional licensing boards should have influence on the structure and operation
9of such programs; and
10 WHEREAS, the ideal study would look broadly across the careers that require
11undergraduate credentialing, both in Louisiana and across other states, to establish what level
12of consistency of approach is appropriate for the teaching and training of nurses and other
13essential healthcare professionals; and 
14 WHEREAS, it is necessary to determine where oversight lies currently, and where
15it should properly lie, in the formation and delivery of healthcare professional education
16programs.
17 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
18Legislature of Louisiana does hereby create a study group to evaluate options and make
19recommendations for reforming healthcare workforce training and development in this state.
20 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the study group shall be composed of the
21following members:
22 (1)  The secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health or his designee.
23 (2)  One member appointed by the chairman of the Board of Supervisors of
24Community and Technical Colleges.
25 (3)  One member appointed by the chairman of the Board of Supervisors of Louisiana
26State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College.
27 (4)  One member appointed by the chairman of the Board of Supervisors of Southern
28University and Agricultural and Mechanical College.
29 (5)  One member appointed by the chairman of the Board of Supervisors for the
30University of Louisiana System.
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1 (6)  One member appointed by the chairman of the board of directors of the
2Louisiana Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.
3 (7)  One member appointed by the president of the Louisiana Hospital Association.
4 (8)  One member appointed by the president of the Louisiana State Nurses
5Association.
6 (9)  One member appointed by the executive director of the Louisiana State Medical
7Society.
8 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the member appointed by the chairman of the
9Board of Supervisors of Community and Technical Colleges shall serve as chairman of the
10study group.
11 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the matters which the study group shall examine
12shall include, without limitation, all of the following:
13 (1)  Healthcare workforce training and development priorities for the state.
14 (2)  Optimal uses of funds appropriated by the legislature for healthcare education
15and training.
16 (3)  Standards and guidelines for health professions education and training programs
17funded through legislative appropriations.
18 (4)  Outcomes data from health professions education and training programs.
19 (5)  Systems for prioritizing health professions education and training needs of
20Louisiana communities.
21 (6)  Options for developing a statewide health professions education and training
22funding strategy.
23 (7)  Sources of funding to stimulate expansion of health professions education and
24training.
25 (8)  Sources of technical assistance and support for establishing new health
26professions education and training programs in Louisiana.
27 (9)  Means for establishing and enhancing health professions career ladders and
28pathways.
29 (10)  Means for induction of new workers into Louisiana's healthcare workforce and
30for retention of the state's existing healthcare workforce.
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1 (11)  Inefficiencies in current healthcare professional licensure and credentialing
2systems and impediments to increasing the number of healthcare workers produced.
3 (12)  The extent to which healthcare professional licensing boards should have
4influence on the structure and operation of educational programs that produce healthcare
5professionals.
6 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the study group shall submit its findings
7regarding the matters enumerated in this Resolution, as well as any other findings concerning
8healthcare workforce training and development as deemed appropriate by the chairman of
9the study group, in the form of a report to the elected members of the House of
10Representatives of the Legislature of Louisiana and the David R. Poynter Legislative
11Research Library no later than thirty days prior to the convening of the 2023 Regular
12Session.
13 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that legislative authority for the study group shall
14terminate on July 1, 2023.
15 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
16secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health, the chairman of the Board of Supervisors
17of Community and Technical Colleges, the chairman of the Board of Supervisors of
18Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, the chairman of the
19Board of Supervisors of Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, the
20chairman of the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System, the chairman
21of the board of directors of the Louisiana Association of Independent Colleges and
22Universities, the president of the Louisiana Hospital Association, the president of the
23Louisiana State Nurses Association, and the executive director of the Louisiana State
24Medical Society.
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 155 Original 2022 Regular Session	Turner
Creates and provides for a study group to evaluate options and make recommendations for
reforming healthcare workforce training and development in this state.  Requires the study
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HR NO. 155
group to report its findings to the House of Representatives no later than 30 days prior to the
convening of the 2023 R.S.
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