STAND. COM. REP. NO. 402

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 1282

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 1282 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to address the shortage of mobile intensive care technicians and paramedics in Hawaii.

 

     Specifically, this measure makes an appropriation of $300,000, for the 2007-2008 fiscal year to establish the emergency medical technician training stipend program. 

 

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Department of Health.

 

     Your Committee finds that there is a shortage of qualified mobile intensive care technicians and paramedics in Hawaii.  The State needs a minimum of an additional fifty mobile intensive care technicians or paramedics.  The lack of local training programs has exacerbated the problem, especially on the neighbor islands.  Additionally, the difficulties in job advancement due to the financial cost of training have resulted in a high attrition rate.  Given the anticipated system growth and attrition, this shortage will only worsen in the coming years. 

 

     Your Committee finds that it is in the public's interest to ensure local training programs are available.  Therefore, your Committee finds the appropriation made by this measure to be a necessary and valuable use of the State's resources.

 

     This measure was amended to make a grammatical correction.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1282, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1282, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health,

 

 

 

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Chair