UK St. Claire recently hosted a panel of Kentucky congressmen and women to discuss recent healthcare developments in the Commonwealth.
Senator Steve West said the state’s annual budget has allocated sufficient funding for investments in medical infrastructure. According to West, legislation has been passed providing funding to Morehead State University and UK St. Claire.
Senator Robin Webb said moving forward, policymakers are expected to encourage collaboration between healthcare providers and other organizations.
“Rural healthcare on a good day, it has got to be innovative. There's got to be partnerships. The money that we have, we may not always have money in the budget,” said Webb
The University of Kentucky is a frequent collaborator, assimilating both Kings Daughters and St. Claire Medical Centers in the last two years.
Representative Patrick Flannery added future collaborations will be more transparent than in the past.
“So, I think this partnership between UK and St. Clair, there's going to be a huge positive impact that comes out of that, and I think we're already seeing that now. But let's just be sure that when we do this, let's do it in a transparent way,” said Flannery.
Flannery spoke briefly on House Bill 159. The bill prevents nurses who make honest medical mistakes from being criminally charged. This bill is the first of its kind in the United States.
In Frankfort, members of Congress heard about a new Medicaid services reentry project. Its aim is to improve care transitions for incarcerated juveniles and adults. The project would allow individuals who would be eligible for Medicaid if not for their incarceration status to become eligible once again.