Michigan Legislative Updates
2008
Government and Public
Affairs Committee
MSA Newsletter Update
“Constantly move forward”
was our mantra that the MSA GAPA Committee vowed to do. HB5544
died in committee last year. This means a new bill must be
written and sponsored. We discussed the necessity of hiring a
lobbyist to help us in passing our bill for certification and
mandatory education for STs working in the OR. We have been
meeting with Chris Kindsvatter, a lobbyist in Lansing. He met
with Ben Price from AST in Colorado last week. I am happy to
report that we have signed a contract with his lobby group.
Chris and his associates will be guiding us to achieve our goal
of passing a bill. John Stakoe agreed to continue to work with
us as well. GAPA committee members, Lynda Custer, Brenda Mae
Chilcote, Jean Chester and I met with Chris last fall. We
reviewed the language of our new bill and a new meeting with
Chris and John Stakoe is planned this February to finalize the
details.
I look forward to having our
bill written and sponsored. Keep checking for updates as once
this is done, MSA will be soliciting your help in the grass
roots effort to pass legislation. We will keep you updated on
the MSA website.
Sincerely yours,
Rebecca Pieknik, MS, CST,
CSA, FAST
MSA GAPA Chair
This was reported in 12-5-2008 by Jessica Byrom
MIR's Newspaper:
(MIR's Newspaper granted to duplicate)
Who's That Counting The Scalpels?
While the man holding the scalpel must
complete years of training, the person making sure the
scalpel wasn't sewed up inside a patient may have walked
off the street, health education advocates told the
House Health Policy Committee.
According to Lynda
CUSTER, president of
Michigan's Association of Surgical Technologists (MSAAST),
current surgical technician certification is a voluntary
process, meaning the person responsible for the
operating room equipment doesn't need a single hour of
instruction to technically qualify for the position.
HB 6418 (2008) and 6419 (2008), sponsored by Reps.
Marie
DONIGAN (D-Royal Oak) and John
STAKOE (R-Highland), would beef up requirements for
these health care professionals by requiring all
technicians to complete an accredited two-year associate
program and maintain certification as established by the
National Board of Surgical Technology and Surgical
Assisting. In addition, all surgical technicians must
complete 15 hours of continued education annually to
maintain certification.
The 15-hour requirement can usually be
completed at an accredited hospital, workshop or through
an online program, Custer said.
Rep. Lisa
WOJNO (D-Warren), a registered nurse, expressed
concern at the potential cost of the continued education
programs. However, according to Association of Surgical
Technologists representatives, many of the online
programs are free and others are available at reduced
costs.
No action was taken on bills, even
though committee chair Rep. Kathy
ANGERER (D-Dundee) said it's possible this was the
last committee meeting this session.
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Michigan is unique
because we are the only state made up of two peninsulas
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A list of actively serving
GPA Committee members
and their email address can be found on the MSA-AST Board
Members page. |
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