Bill Text: HI HCR95 | 2018 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Requesting The Hawaii Health Systems Corporation Regional Boards For Oahu, East Hawaii, West Hawaii, And Kauai To Assess The Availability Of Long-term Care Beds In Each Region And Its Impact On Wait Times For Acute Care Hospital Beds.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 9-0)
Status: (Passed) 2018-04-25 - Resolution adopted in final form. [HCR95 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2018-HCR95-Amended.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.C.R. NO. |
95 |
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TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018 |
S.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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HOUSE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
REQUESTING THE HAWAII HEALTH SYSTEMS CORPORATION REGIONAL BOARDS FOR OAHU, EAST HAWAII, WEST HAWAII, AND KAUAI TO ASSESS THE AVAILABILITY OF LONG-TERM CARE BEDS IN EACH REGION AND ITS IMPACT ON WAIT TIMES FOR ACUTE CARE HOSPITAL BEDS.
WHEREAS, the Legislature recognizes the impact of long-term care services on individuals and families; and
WHEREAS, the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation provides long-term care in each of its four regions, including two long-term care facilities in the Oahu Region, two critical access hospitals that provide long-term care in the Kauai Region, one acute care facility and one critical access hospital that provides long-term care in the West Hawaii Region, and one acute care hospital and two critical access hospitals that provide long-term care in the East Hawaii Region; and
WHEREAS, reimbursements from insurers to the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation for long-term care services vary by the type of facility where the beds are located and in many cases do not cover the costs of care; and
WHEREAS, a lack of long-term care beds also affects acute care hospitals when patients who no longer need an acute care level of service cannot be placed in a more appropriate setting and must remain on a waitlist to transition to intermediate or skilled nursing levels of care; and
WHEREAS, patients on waitlists continue to occupy acute care beds, limiting the ability of acute care hospitals to admit and treat new patients; and
WHEREAS, the operating costs of an acute care bed are expensive, but the reimbursement amounts for long-term care patients are relatively low, and this differential can affect a hospital's revenue; and
WHEREAS, the waitlist problem was last comprehensively studied in 2014, and a report by the Hawaii Health Information Corporation found that in 2011 there were 7,055 waitlisted patients representing a net annual loss to acute care hospitals of approximately $60,000,000, with approximately seventy percent of waitlisted patients in The Queen's Medical Center, Maui Memorial Medical Center, and Kuakini Hospital; and
WHEREAS, in 2016, Oahu had a total capacity of 2,726 long-term care beds; and
WHEREAS, Leahi Hospital and Maluhia Long-Term Care Health Center are two state-run long-term care facilities within the Oahu region of the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation; and
WHEREAS, in 2016, Leahi Hospital had a long-term care bed capacity of one hundred fifty-five beds and Maluhia Long-Term Care Health Center had a long-term care bed capacity of one hundred fifty-eight beds; and
WHEREAS, for the 2016-2017 fiscal year, Leahi Hospital had an operating loss of $9,073,968 and Maluhia Long-Term Care Health Center had an operating loss of $7,387,367; and
WHEREAS, in recent years, Leahi Hospital and Maluhia Long-Term Care Health Center have been forced to reduce staff positions and temporarily halt new admissions to address operating deficits; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2018, the Senate concurring, that each of the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation Regional Boards for Oahu, East Hawaii, West Hawaii, and Kauai is requested to:
(1) Assess how its respective public hospitals are responsive to the need for long-term care placements and how they mitigate the waitlist problem of acute care hospitals; and
(2) Develop recommendations regarding the effect of the availability of long-term care beds on wait times for acute care beds in its respective geographic areas; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that each of the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation Regional Boards for Oahu, East Hawaii, West Hawaii, and Kauai is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2019; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health, Chief Executive Officer of the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation, and Chief Executive Officers of the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation Oahu Region, East Hawaii Region, West Hawaii Region, and Kauai Region.
HHSC; Leahi Hospital; Maluhia Long-Term Care Health Center
