Pardon Our Dust
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Work at the General Assembly slowed down this week as snow covered Raleighand the surrounding areas, resulting in most legislative committeesdelaying their meetings for the week, with the exception of JointLegislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services, which heldtheir monthly meeting on Tuesday.
The legislature will be in town next week as the special session continues.HB 189: Short Term Response to Emerging Contaminants, which was passed by the House last week, is unlikely to move in theSenate during this special session. Instead, legislators are expected tofocus on judicial reform. They will not be required to take upcongressional redistricting as the US Supreme Courtdelayedlast week’sorderfrom a lower court while the case is appealed.
Health & Human Services Oversight Committee Discusses MentalHealth, Opioids & More
On Tuesday, the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and HumanServices Committee met to hear a number ofpresentationsincluding comments from Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)Secretary Mandy Cohen, an update on the expansion of two of the state’sthree regional psychiatric hospitals and a presentation from one of thestate’s seven LME/ MCOs on what they are doing to address the opioidcrisis.
Tell Me More
First, Sec. Cohenbriefedthe committee on the selection and orientation of themembersselected to replace the former board of Cardinal Innovations, the largestLME/ MCO in the state, which was taken over by DHHS in December. Sec. Cohennoted that the Department expects to release a corrective action plan inthe comings weeks.
DHHS Deputy Secretary for Health Services Mark Benton thenupdatedthe committee on the construction of Cherry and Broughton Hospitals. CherryHospital initially had capacity for 197 patients, 97 beds have been added,46 of which have been opened. To open the remaining 51 beds, 158 clinicalpositions must be filled. The new campus at Broughton Hospital will expandcapacity from 297 beds to 382 beds. To open, the campus will requireadditional positions, which have not been funded, and equipment.
Lastly, CEO of Vaya Health Brian Ingrahampresentedto the committee on the LME/ MCOs efforts to address the opioid crisis,including expanding medication addicted treatment programs, purchasingNARCAN overdose kits and engaging the community in outreach and preventionprograms.
A Look Ahead to Next Week
Many committees that were scheduled this week were cancelled or rescheduleddue to inclement weather. The following committees will meet next week:
Monday, January 22, 2018
1:00 PM Joint Select Committee on Judicial Reform & Redistricting
1:00 PM Joint Legislative Program Evaluation Oversight Committee
Wednesday, January 24, 2018
10:00 AM Child Fatality Task Force, Perinatal Health Committee
Thursday, January 25, 2018
9:00 AM Joint Legislative Emergency Management Oversight Committee
10:00 AM Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice & PublicSafety, Subcommittee on ABC Permitting & Enforcement
1:00 PM House Select Committee on Administrative Procedure Laws
1:00 PM Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice & PublicSafety