Thank some Legislators!

[cschwab]

The Colorado State bill for the certification of Hemodialysis Technicians - that so many of us fought so hard for back in 2007 - is in danger of being wiped out.  The Sunset Review of the bill which reviews bills years after they have been passed occurred this last January 24th.  We were very surprised when some committee members of the house Health and Environment committee objected to the bill.  We strongly feel their objections didn't have enough merit to kill the bill.  We are happy to report the bill passed review by a 6-5 vote.  However this bill that has worked so well, is now going to have to be voted on again by the legislature - we are very worried it could be a tough fight.  Right now we are in the process of finding backers of the bill at the dialysis companies, Colorado Hospital Association, etc...  We don't even have a number for the bill yet.  But we are encouraging you to write or call the Reps who are sponsoring and co-sponsoring this bill and express your support!  It is hard to fight for something when you feel alone.


Sponsor: Representative Beth McCann,  email: beth.mccann.house*at*state.co.us,  ph. 303-866-2959


Co-sponsor: Representative John Kefalas,  email: john.kefalas.house*at*state.co.us, ph. 303-866-4569           
(Rep. Kefalas was also a sponsor of the 2007 bill)

 
Co-sponsor: Representative Dave Young, email dave.young.house*at*state.co.us, ph. 303-866-2929
        
Why:
1) This state bill ties in tech certification with a dialysis clinic

[cschwab]

I would bet the above legislators would appreciate a thank you, even if you aren't a Coloradoan!

[cschwab]

I was reminded how California came up with a watered-down tech certification program that is only good in California - sure hope it doesn't go federal!  Help us keep our defenses up!  If this gets knocked down, I can see how California's crap might move in:

First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak out because I was Protestant.

Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me

Martin Niem

[cschwab]

From Rep. McCann: "The bill has now been officially set for Feb. 21st at 1:30 in the Health committee which meets in the Legal Services Building on 14th between Sherman and Grant - south side of the Capitol."

[cschwab]

And the number of the bill is HB1204

[cschwab]

Inserted a new item 3 into the "Why"s in the top post

[cschwab]

I should mention there are two other legislators who should be thanked for their yes vote at the sunset review meeting:

Representative Rhonda Fields,  email: rhonda.fields.house*at*state.co.us, ph. 303-866-3911


Representative Sue Schafer,  email: sue.schafer.house*at*state.co.us, ph. 303-866-5522

And if anybody was curious about how the overall vote went, here is the link, then follow instructions below:
http://www.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2012A/csl.nsf/Committee?OpenFrameSet

Click "Summaries by Committee", then "House Health and Environment", then "01/24/2012"

[cschwab]

Amended directions:
The bill has now been officially set for Feb. 21st at 1:30 in the Health committee which meets in the Legal Services Building on 14th between Sherman and Grant

[cschwab]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!WE PASS OUT OF COMMITTEE 12-0!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[cschwab]

I'm hearing the Colorado house floor vote could be as soon as Monday!

So I wrote my new State Rep:

Representative DelGrosso,

I'm the father of a daughter with kidney disease (transplant now).  I recently moved into your district, but have been involved in issues concerning kidney disease and kidney dialysis for about 12 years now.  I was part of a group that got a Colorado state bill passed back in 2007 for the certification of hemodialysis technicians.  It is up for a Sunset Review, and this last Tuesday the bill passed out of the Health and Environment committee by a 12-0 vote!  The concerns at the earlier review have been answered and I will be very happy if the bill gains your vote.

Some of the reasons to vote for the bill are the following:
1) Checks tech certification every year with the renewal of the license vs. other states like California which check every 3 years (if that).  We are hearing clinic managers are less likely to try and use less-qualified staff.
2) Infections like sepsis, a potentially lethal infection of the blood, took a significant dip in 2008-2009 when the state tech program was starting to be implemented - California continued to climb, their tech certification hadn't been implemented yet.
3) Stopping this bill could lead to a watered-down version of tech certification which California has with their CDC program - good only in California.  I should note California appears to have higher rates of infections (sepsis was very notable!)
4) A retired dialysis nurse testified about the case of someone who couldn't pass the company test, but was allowed on the floor anyway jeopardizing the safety of patients.  Had there been state or federal certification, she felt there was less of chance of this person getting out on the floor - or even being hired.
5) A lady who had been on dialysis eleven years testified she met a tech who was allowed on the floor after two weeks!  Would you trust a mechanic working on your brakes if they had just picked up a wrench two weeks ago?
6) A current dialysis patient testified how he had seen staff short-handed.  Would you want that already short-handed staff to be also poorly-trained?
7) Low fiscal impact
8) Clinic managers report less turn-over with certification.

In the years since the bill has been implemented I haven't heard staff or patients complain about certification.  I hope you will find enough reasons to support this bill!

Regards,
Chris Schwab

Any Coloradoans out there might consider shooting off a quick email to their state reps!

[cschwab]

We passed the Colorado state House 54-9!!!  State Senate committee here we come!

[cschwab]

Audio of hearing:

http://dialysisethics2.org/open_images/audio/coloradoga_02_21-2012_hearing.mp3

[cschwab]

While we are waiting for a state Senate committee date, thought I would post the graphs we gave to the Colorado state legislators.  Particularly we asked them to pay attention to the sepsis graph - a worrisome uptrend for an infection that can be fatal, but from 2008-2009 there was a significant dip for Colorado.  Could it be because here in Colorado we were implementing our tech certification program?

We compared Colorado to California after reading about their 56% tech pass rate, compared to Colorado's 80-93% pass rate.