Bill Text: HI SR190 | 2021 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Urging The Hawaii Health Systems Corporation To Expand The Kau Rural Health Clinic To Improve Access To Urgent Care And Outpatient Behavioral Health Services.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 9-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-16 - Referred to HTH, WAM. [SR190 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2021-SR190-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	190
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

 

 

urging the hawaii health systems corporation to expand the ka‘u rural health clinic to improve access to urgent care and outpatient behavioral health services.

 

 

     WHEREAS, individuals with pre-existing mental health conditions may be particularly vulnerable in an emergency; and

 

     WHEREAS, social isolation and loneliness are closely linked to poor health, with recent data from 2020 showing that a significantly higher proportion of people who sheltered-in-place during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) stay-at-home order reported negative mental health effects resulting from worry or stress compared to those who did not shelter-in-place; and

 

     WHEREAS physical isolation and loneliness during the COVID‑19 pandemic may present specific health risks for households with adolescents and older adults; and

 

     WHEREAS, rural health clinics help to address the inadequate number of physicians available to serve Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas and increase the availability of medically necessary, face-to-face primary health services and qualified preventative health services furnished by rural health clinic practitioners, including physicians, nurse practitioners, physical assistants, certified nurse-midwives, clinical psychologists, and social workers; and

 

     WHEREAS, in rural, tight-knit communities where there is little privacy, residents are dissuaded from seeking mental health service for fear of community condemnation, prejudices, or negative perceptions; and

 

     WHEREAS, rural health clinics serve an essential role in underserviced communities such as Ka‘u on Hawai‘i island, enabling greater accessibility to behavioral health services for Medicaid patients; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2021, that the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation is urged to expand the Ka‘u Rural Health Clinic to improve access to urgent care and outpatient behavioral health services; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the Board of Directors of the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Hawaii Health Systems Corporation; Ka‘u Rural Health Clinic; Mental Health