Representative Clint Penzo
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Committees
- Public Health, Welfare & Labor Committee (House)
Recent Meetings
| Date | Committee | Speaking Time |
|---|---|---|
| March 2, 2021 | Public Health, Welfare & Labor Committee (House) | 463s |
Recent Transcript Excerpts
I mean, I'm glad we have some medical professionals in the room. We've got a couple of doctors. I worked in physical therapy for a little bit. We've got a couple of pharmacists. We've got one guy. Thanks for joining us on Zoom. He works in health care administration. We've got nurses. I mean, a lot of us, but more importantly, we've been nurses. Anyway, just like to ask everybody for a good vote. Thank you.
And that's what we've got to realize, that it's still going to be a team effort. I mean, I worked in health care. I mean, one gentleman sat at the table said we're not – alluded to the fact that we're not qualified because most of us haven't worked in health care. Well, there's a lot of us in here that have worked in health care. There's a lot of us that have been patients. And I would say that's probably more important that, you know, we've experienced this as patients, family members as patients. We know what it's like to be a patient. So don't come in here and tell us that we're not qualified to make these decisions.
for medical malpractice in other states. That's not shown in other states that have done it. So that argument's flawed. You know, CRNAs are trained to recognize these problems. Sure, they didn't go to medical school. But if there's an emergency during surgery, there's a surgeon in that room. And if, so there is a doctor in the room that can, it's a team effort.
The CRNA, if he chooses to use that anesthesia model, is the anesthesia professional in the room, the specialist. So for them to say that the CRNAs don't know what they're doing, the other states that have gone through this process and opt out, why are their medical malpractice rates not through the roof? If it's not safe for the patient, that would be represented in the insurance rates
everybody's going to be handing out pills to the schoolyard children that's that's not right and I'm disappointed that y'all were misled and you came down here to speak against this bill which has nothing to do with the opioid crisis. When an orthopedic surgeon is doing surgery, he is the specialist in the room when it comes to surgery. Okay?
open up you know pill pop and shops that's that's not right never was the amendment that was added was just to clarify that it didn't do that that that was there was phone calls made to probably everybody in this room that if if the stars line up just right and this bill and this bill pass and this happens and you know the Razorbacks go to the final four then they can prescribe medications or you know open up a pill shop and it's going to affect the opioid crisis and
are you ready to close representative i am thank you um i'd like to point out a few things um i mean it's i'm i'm i guess i'd like to say that i'm disappointed or maybe should congratulate the lobbying team on the other side for convincing the bryant pd that uh this bill allows people to
But I'm okay with limiting the debate to two minutes, or discussion, or three minutes.
questions. Okay. Well, I'm okay with personally limiting this debate, but I'd like to allow... I've got a hospital administrator here that can answer several of the questions that were mentioned. So personally, I'd like to do a few... If this doesn't pass, I'd like to offer a substitute motion that it doesn't include questions.
any other questions from committee and i've actually got someone else here that can add to what Slade said, but we'll. Are they signed up to speak? They're signed up to speak, so it's same thing. We'll get to them. I was just letting everybody know that we'll touch on that with another witness.
um i'll let uh slade go ahead and and take
That's why we added the amendment with definitions. There was concern over pain clinics. Therefore, we've added language to try to address that. The CRNAs do not want to add, you know, run pain clinics. So if we've got a lot of extra stuff in the bill this year to try to, you know, alleviate some of the concerns people have over the issues that have been brought up over the last several years.
to strike uh under the supervision from from the bill it was later requested that you know we replace that with a word a different type of descriptive word on the relationship Coordination with, consultation, you know, over the years this has evolved and here we are in consultation with. One of the problems that was brought up two years ago was that the word that they chose then wasn't defined.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. House Bill 1198, a little history on this. this is this is uh something that's been going on longer than i've been here um eight years ago i think uh to my understanding i wasn't here eight years ago but uh the the initial attempt was just
So we were asked to kind of explain the legislative intent. So these are some of the, I won't say this is a compromise bill, but this is some of the language that was requested that we've decided to add to the bill. Committee, are there any questions?
Do Not Codify section for legislative intent there in Section 2. This act does not limit and should not be interpreted to limit the right or authority or both of the health care facility to choose an anesthesia practice model.
So it kind of leaves it in the hands of the kind of local control. Also, we've got a
what immediately available for consultation means.
could be passed this session. So we've added a definition of consultation. And I'd like a little feedback from the committee on the amendment as well. But we've added a definition for consultation, left it in the hospital, administrative, medical staff, and governing body can determine the guidelines on
present your amendment. Thank you. Okay. We have a... This bill was initially clean, just striking a few words and adding a few words. We had some requests to add definitions. And there was also concerns over some potential issues with other bills that
Bills Discussed
| Bill | Title | Mentions |
|---|---|---|
| HB1118 | TO PROVIDE THAT SALES BY A COTTAGE FOOD PRODUCTION OPERATION THROUGH THE INTERNET ARE EXEMPT FROM THE DEFINITION OF "FOOD … | 3 |
| HB1258 | TO AUTHORIZE FULL INDEPENDENT PRACTICE AUTHORITY FOR CERTIFIED NURSE PRACTITIONERS WHO MEET CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS; AND TO CREATE THE FULL INDEPENDENT … | 3 |
| HB1198 | TO AMEND THE DEFINITION OF "PRACTICE OF CERTIFIED REGISTERED NURSE ANESTHESIA" BY REMOVING SUPERVISION REQUIREMENTS. | 3 |
| HB1409 | TO MODIFY THE DEFINITION OF "WAGES" IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER THE DIVISION OF WORKFORCE SERVICES LAW. | 2 |
| HB1450 | TO REQUIRE A HEALTH BENEFIT PLAN TO PROVIDE COVERAGE FOR EARLY REFILLS OF PRESCRIPTION EYE DROPS; AND TO ESTABLISH THE … | 2 |
| SB6 | TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS UNBORN CHILD PROTECTION ACT; TO ABOLISH ABORTION IN ARKANSAS AND PROTECT THE LIVES OF UNBORN CHILDREN; … | 2 |
| HB1152 | TO CREATE GABO'S LAW; TO ALLOW FOR EMERGENCY MEDICAL CARE TO BE PROVIDED TO INJURED POLICE DOGS; AND TO PROVIDE … | 2 |
| HB1407 | TO MODIFY THE METHOD OF CALCULATION OF THE STABILIZATION TAX IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER THE DIVISION OF WORKFORCE SERVICES LAW. | 2 |
| SB254 | TO ENSURE THAT BUSINESSES ARE NOT PENALIZED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH FOR THE BEHAVIOR OF THEIR PATRONS OR CUSTOMERS … | 2 |
| SB258 | TO AUTHORIZE NONMANDATORY MULTIYEAR REGISTRATION AND LICENSING BY THE CONTRACTORS LICENSING BOARD. | 2 |
| HCR1002 | TO ENCOURAGE CONTINUED COLLABORATION AMONG HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS, LAW ENFORCEMENT, EDUCATORS, PUBLIC OFFICIALS, AND THE ARKANSAS COMMUNITY IN BATTLING THE ABUSE … | 2 |
| SB212 | TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS PANS/PANDAS ADVISORY COUNCIL; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. | 2 |
| HB1519 | TO AMEND THE PETROLEUM STORAGE TANK TRUST FUND ACT; AND TO INCREASE THE BALANCE OF THE PETROLEUM STORAGE TANK TRUST … | 1 |
| HB1408 | TO AMEND THE ADVANCING WOMEN'S HEALTH ACT OF 2015; AND TO REQUIRE THE ACT TO APPLY TO FUNDING THROUGH THE … | 1 |