From: Andrea Hoberman [ahoberman@paclac.org]
Sent:
Subject: UPDATE May 23rd: SB 1785
Hello
everyone,
An update on SB 1785. The bill was heard in the Senate Appropriations
committee yesterday, where it was placed in the Suspense file to be heard on
Thursday. I have copied some information below from Meredith Borak from Senator Figueroa's office to get a
better understanding of the status:
Appropriations
suspense file is where all the bills that have a significant cost go so that
they can all be evaluated at a later date together. SB 1785 went to suspense
because the committee had to assume there was significant cost involved in the
transfer of administrative oversight from Laboratory Field Services (LFS)to Licensing &Certification (L&C) (within DHS)
– DHS has not yet said whether or not there would be any cost to implant
the measure so the committee had to ASSUME there was a cost involved in order
to be safe. I have submitted a letter from the Senator stating:
"The bill simply exempts hospitals from
registration as tissue banks for purposes of collecting, processing, storing or
distributing breast milk collected from a mother for her own child. A
mother of a hospitalized infant may not be able to be physically present to
breastfeed the infant at each feeding time, and may wish to store her own breast
milk in a refrigerator on the hospital premises. However, current law
requires hospitals to obtain a tissue bank license if they wish to store mothers’ milk for infants. The process of obtaining
a tissue bank license is lengthy, costly and complicated and therefore many hospitals, who
may wish otherwise, are unable to permit mothers to store their own milk for
their own infants.
With this exemption, oversight would shift from DHS’s
Laboratory Field Services (LFS) to Licensing and Certification (L&C).
Currently, L&C conducts general surveys of tissue handling and storage to
ensure that hospitals comply with their own standards as well as any applicable
state and federal regulations. L&C reviews the hospital's policies
and ensures that systems are in place and being complied with so that they can
ensure safe storage, handling and distribution of tissues. L&C's survey specific to tissue storage generally
includes the following: proper labeling, storage temperature settings,
duration of stored tissues, freezing and thawing procedures, appropriate
handling procedures, and possibilities of cross-contamination.
With this information in mind, I believe it is reasonable to assume that
the shift of oversight from LFS to L&C does not involve any significant new
costs. However, since the DHS has not yet shared their cost estimate with
the committee, it is also reasonable to wait and see what further information
can be obtained in the coming days. At the same time I ask you to remember that
SB 1785 does not ask the DHS to do anything that they do not already do."
We will
keep you posted and hope for the best on Thursday.
Thanks,
-Andrea
Andrea J. Hoberman, MPH, CLE
Program and Public Policy Manager
PAC/LAC
Ph (818) 788-6850
Fx (818) 788-6950
ahoberman@paclac.org
-Quality Care for Mothers and Babies-
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