OHA Advocacy Network

Advocacy Report • Thursday, November 8, 2007

House Health Hears From Hospitals on Nurse Staffing Bill

Nurse staffing legislation received its second hearing this week in the House Health Committee, hearing support from the hospital community. Linda Stoverock, chief nursing officer and senior vice president for patient services at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, testified in support of House Bill 346 on behalf of the Ohio Hospital Association (OHA) and the Ohio Organization for Nurse Executives (OONE). Stoverock gave the committee background on the unprecedented collaboration between OHA, OONE and the Ohio Nurses Association (ONA) which lead to the development of this legislation. She stated that this legislation will go far to ensure that all Ohio hospitals solicit input from direct care nurses when making staffing decisions while at the same time ensuring that hospitals have flexibility and can consider evidence-based, quality standards when establishing staffing plans, which meets the goals of both ONA and common goals of OHA and OONE. Because of the number of variables considered in developing an appropriate staffing plan specific to each institution, it is critical that nursing leaders have flexibility and are able to consider all factors when developing a plan that best meets the needs of patients. HB 346 provides that flexibility, while ensuring that hospitals consider standards that are proven to deliver quality care with positive patient outcomes, Stoverock told the committee.

OHA is continuing to work with OONE members to host regional meetings with legislators on the House Health Committee in the coming weeks. Nurse executives this week met with House Health chair Rep. John White (R-Kettering) at Southview Hospital in Dayton. Meetings have also been scheduled in northwest Ohio and Akron.

In a related matter, the National Nurses Organizing Committee, an arm of the California Nurses Association, is up at arms about the legislation. In an e-mail to its Ohio members, NNOC noted its anger that OHA is touting HB 346 as a common-sense staffing bill because it does not mandate staffing ratios. NNOC is conducting grassroots opposition to the bill, urging members to contact their legislators and spread the word about the union’s yet-to-be-introduced legislation to require nurse-to-patient staffing ratios.

For additional information on HB 346, sponsored by Rep. Jim Hughes (R-Columbus), including a white paper on safe nurse staffing, which was adopted by the OHA Board and incorporated into the legislation, visit www.ohanet.org/advocacy/state/issues/nursestaffing.htm.(Jeff Klingler, jeffk@ohanet.org)

Hospitals Express Support of Maternity Licensure

The House Health Committee continues to hear support from the hospital community for House Bill 331. Last week, Jacalyn Buck, director of nursing for women and infants at the Ohio State University Medical Center, testified before the committee that the legislation would provide a contemporary licensure process in Ohio which would enhance the care of mothers and their infants in our state. Buck expressed her frustrations that the current licensure process results in an excessive amount of time and energy consumed in completing the application form, collecting a large amount of data, ensuring payment of the licensure fee and “preparing” for the annual visit. She also explained that in October 2005 a task force of nursing leaders from obstetric and newborn services was convened to address issues involving licensure and regulations of maternity services. That task force adopted several measures of success which include the need for evidence based regulations, surveyors with expertise in obstetrics, a streamlined application process and a statewide mechanism to evaluate and compare data, of which HB 331 supports. OHA shared its support of HB 331 in a letter to House Health Committee last week. (Bridget Gargan, bridgetg@ohanet.org)

House Begins Hearings on Electricity Restructuring Bill
With the Ohio Senate’s approval of Senate Bill 221 last week, House Public Utilities Committee held its first hearing on the electricity restructuring proposal this week. The legislation, which would bring affordable and reliable electricity to Ohio, is sponsored by Sen. Robert Schuler (R-Cincinnati). OHA is a member of the Coalition for Affordable Power, which supports the legislation. OHA delivered a letter of support to the Senate on SB 221. View previous OHA testimony and other resources on the OHA Web site. (Bridget Gargan, bridgetg@ohanet.org)

Shaken Baby Syndrome Education Program Clears House

The Ohio House of Representatives this week passed Senate Bill 144, sponsored by Sen. Steve Stivers (R-Columbus), legislation which would establish the Shaken Baby Syndrome Education Program within the Ohio Department of Health.

Under the provisions of the bill, ODH would convene a work group of child abuse prevention advocates, infant care experts, maternity unit directors and others to develop educational materials for parents, and would require hospitals which operate maternity units, obstetricians, pediatricians and others to download the materials from the department’s Web site and provide it to new parents. The bill also establishes a tracking system whereby the State can monitor the effectiveness of the educational program and revise materials as needed through data reported by public children’s service agencies. OHA lent its support to the legislation. The bill now heads back to the Ohio Senate, which must agree with some minor changes made by the House, before it heads to the governor for his signature. (Jeff Klingler, jeffk@ohanert.org).

OHA Submits Comments on BWC Inpatient Rule

OHA this week submitted comments to the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) on the proposed amendment to Ohio Administrative Rule (OAC) 4123-6-37.1— Payment of hospital inpatient services. The amendment is designed to update the BWC Health Partnership Program inpatient hospital prospective payment system (IHPPS) to match the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) federal fiscal year 2008 Medicare IHPPS. OHA’s comments can be view at http://www.ohanet.org/advocacy/state/issues/letters/bwccomments110607.pdf. (Bridget Gargan, bridgetg@ohanet.org)

OHA Advocacy “In the Know”

Updated information on executive branch legislative liaisons is now available at http://www.ohanet.org/advocacy/state/resources/agencylegislativeliaison.pdf

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Direct questions on OHA’s advocacy agenda to:

Bridget Gargan, Vice President, State Policy & Advocacy (bridgetg@ohanet.org)

Jeff Klingler, Director, State Policy & Advocacy (jeffk@ohanet.org)

Jean Scholz, RN, Director, Health Policy (jeans@ohanet.org)

Rick Sites, General Counsel (ricks@ohanet.org)

Stacey Conrad, Specialist, State Policy & Advocacy (staceyc@ohanet.org)

Jonathan Archey, Manager, Federal Relations (jonathana@ohanet.org)

Laura Landis, Executive Assistant, State Policy & Advocacy (laural@ohanet.org)