Michigan Legislative Update

As you may be aware, HB 4403 was passed recently regarding the delegation of our duties by the surgeon. Although we are very excited to have clarification on this matter, it did not address our ultimate goal this year for certification as a requirement for employment. With that in mind, House Representative from Oakland County, John Stakoe accepted our proposal to write a new bill speaking specifically to mandatory certification or education as a means of employment. On January 11th, HB 5544 was introduced and referred to the Committee on Health Policy.

On Tuesday, January 31st, testimony was offered for HB 5544. This was our moment to hit the ground running. Students, surgical technologists, and instructors from across Michigan converged on Lansing to speak on the bill’s behalf. Joe Long started our lineup. He fielded the questions tossed out by the Committee. As with any ‘game’, the other team had their chance to score. Mary Murphy, from Munson Medical Center, and a representative from the Michigan Hospital Association (MHA) each took their turn at bat. Our opponents were ruthless as they spouted their ill-founded reasons for not needing educated surgical technologists. Mary’s reasoning included mandatory prophylactic antibiotics as the answer to a lack of asepsis. In her corner the representative from MHA, spoke in direct opposition to the American Hospital Association (AHA) Mission Statement whose vision it is to improve the quality of patient care with objectives that encourage professional education.

The Committee Chair, Ed Gaffney allowed five MSA-AST representatives a short time to speak in support of HB 4455. Julia Jackson, department chair from Baker, Flint, opened our testimony with a prepared speech, Paula Hayes, the program chair from Baker in Jackson followed. Diamond Oakley, a student from OCC/WHB Surgical Tech program offered her viewpoint from a learner’s perspective, Laurel Johnson, employed by Metropolitan Hospital - Center for Plastic Surgery, shared with the committee her witness to an uneducated surgical technologist who panicked when a patient emergency occurred during a C-section. I ended our testimony with a quote from the American College of Surgeons who support mandatory education through accredited programs.

In summary, the outcome of the testimony did not go as we had hoped. In a follow-up conversation with Representative Stakoe, we learned that Ed Gaffney would not allow a vote on this bill until we have the support of the Michigan Hospital Association. Our game plan: Meet with the MHA to discuss what changes they deem necessary; discuss what concessions we will allow and come to a consensus. Although we may not have hit a homerun this time out, the game is far from over. There is still time to sign up for the home team. Please take the time to write your representatives in support of our bill. Ask family and friends to do the same. It is with public support that this bill will score.

Sincerely,
Rebecca Pieknik
President, MSA-AST