PHOENIX — Following concerns raised in multiple ABC15 reports, Arizona lawmakers are no longer considering a move to hide thousands of health board actions from the public.
House Bill 2686 was amended on the floor of the House of Representatives last week.
The proposed law would no longer make non-disciplinary actions confidential and exempt from public disclosure.
“You mentioned several points that you believed would negatively impact the public,” Rep. Selina Bliss wrote in an email to ABC15. “Those issues I believe have been addressed in floor amendment.”
Watch previous reporting on this story in the player above.
RELATED: Will lawmakers hide health board actions from public?
At a committee hearing earlier this month, Rep. Bliss, a Republican from Prescott, told her fellow legislators she introduced the bill to standardize and reign in Arizona’s nearly two dozen health boards.
“It’s about getting people to work, keeping people at work,” Bliss said. “Boards have been known at times to be a little over onerous. And I know they’ll disagree when it comes to licensure and people keeping their licenses. Let’s put it that way. For a nice way to put it.”
RELATED: Proposed law would limit health board investigations, transparency
ABC15 has spoken with multiple health board officials.
While some agreed that some standardization of practices may be a good thing, they raised significant concerns about portions of HB2686 that would restrict their ability to investigate and would decrease public transparency.
The floor amendment addressed other concerns raised in ABC15’s reports, including a provision that would have limited boards to investigate only what was in initial complaints.
A nursing board staff testified at a hearing that board investigators often discover new issues during an investigation that would put the public at risk.
“Let’s just say the board receives a complaint for a nurse poorly documenting her administration of controlled substances. And over the course of the investigation, the investigator may discover this nurse has caused some patient harm and even a death. And 2686 appears to prevent the board from acting on this new information. This isn’t hypothetical. It’s actually happened,” testified Diane Caruso, who heads the nursing board’s complaint and investigation unit.
The amendment now clarifies that investigators are not prohibited from investigating new issues or evidence that is discovered during an investigation.
HB2686 still needs a full vote from the House, Senate, and the governor’s signature before it becomes law.
Contact ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing at Dave@ABC15.com.
