HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 31

(By Delegates Jenkins, Leach, Smirl,

Hubbard, Johnson and Romine)


Requesting the Joint Committee on Government and Finance to make a study of the Huntington Hospital and Governing Board and the Huntington Hospital's Auxiliary.

Whereas, Huntington Hospital lacks the authority to limit admission to patients who are medically appropriate and for whom it can provide a safe environment and competent treatment and the hospital has a readmission rate of 60% including some patients who have been readmitted 6 to 17 times each; and
Whereas, Huntington Hospital's 2 admission units thereby accumulate a volatile and potentially dangerous mixture of the chronically mentally ill, brain damaged, geriatric and young chemically dependent patients as well as court-ordered individuals with criminal charges and physically separate and specialized inpatient treatment programs are unavailable to meet the special needs of these different patient groups; and
Whereas, The mixture of such patients exposes the State and the hospital to undue legal jeopardy and its staff and patients to unacceptable levels of physical, emotional and legal risks; there are many patients, especially the developmentally disabled, who require and are ready for discharge to supervised, structured community residences, who must remain in the hospital only because of the shortage of alternative residential arrangements; and
Whereas, Current pay levels and even increases recently proposed by Division of Health and Human Resources and authorized by the Legislature, while appreciated and helpful, still fall short of what is needed to recruit and retain professional nursing staff, reflected in a 21% turnover rate; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Joint Committee on Government and Finance is hereby requested to review, examine and study the admission units of the Huntington Hospital and Huntington Hospital's Auxiliary, their nursing staffing adequacy and the need to provide a safe environment and competent treatment for the mixture of patients in these facilities; and to make recommendations to the Legislature regarding the same; and be it
Further Resolved, That the Joint Committee on Government and Finance report to the regular session of the Legislature, two thousand, on its findings, conclusions and recommendations, together with drafts of any legislation necessary to effectuate its recommendations; and be it
Further Resolved, That the expenses necessary to conduct this study, to prepare a report and to draft necessary legislation be paid from legislative appropriations to the Joint Committee on Government and Finance.