Bill Text: TX HR1181 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Recognizing February 20 through February 24, 2023, as Certified Anesthesiologist Assistant Week in Texas.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-04-28 - Reported enrolled [HR1181 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HR1181-Enrolled.html
| H.R. No. 1181 | ||
|
|
||
| WHEREAS, In the early 1960s, leaders in the medical specialty | ||
| of anesthesiology recognized the existence of staffing shortages, | ||
| and to meet growing demands and accommodate the increasing | ||
| complexity of anesthesia and surgery, a group of anesthesiologists | ||
| proposed the precursor to what is now the health care occupation of | ||
| certified anesthesiologist assistant; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Certified anesthesiologist assistants are highly | ||
| skilled health professionals who work under the direction of | ||
| licensed physician anesthesiologists to implement anesthesia care | ||
| plans and work exclusively within the Anesthesia Care Team model, | ||
| as described by the American Society of Anesthesiologists; and | ||
| WHEREAS, All CAA students must have earned a baccalaureate | ||
| degree with premedical coursework to be admitted into a CAA | ||
| training program and must complete a comprehensive didactic and | ||
| clinical program at the graduate level; and | ||
| WHEREAS, CAA training programs must also include a minimum of | ||
| 24 months in a master's level program accredited by the Commission | ||
| on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs and must be | ||
| based at, or work in collaboration with, a university that has a | ||
| medical school and academic anesthesiologist physician faculty; as | ||
| part of their CAA training, students are typically required to | ||
| successfully complete an average of 600 hours of classroom and | ||
| laboratory education and 2,600 hours of clinical anesthesia | ||
| education; they are also required to administer a total of more than | ||
| 600 anesthetics and to gain experience in all types of surgery; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Certified anesthesiologist assistants are trained | ||
| extensively in the delivery and maintenance of quality anesthesia | ||
| care as well as advanced patient monitoring techniques; they | ||
| perform tasks such as administering drugs, obtaining vascular | ||
| access, applying and interpreting monitors, establishing and | ||
| maintaining patient airways, and assisting with preoperative | ||
| assessment; and | ||
| WHEREAS, In 2010, Dr. Carin Hagberg, in her role as the chief | ||
| of anesthesiology for The University of Texas Health Science Center | ||
| at Houston, developed a partnership with Case Western Reserve | ||
| University to start a CAA program in Houston; it received initial | ||
| accreditation in 2010 from the Commission on Accreditation of | ||
| Allied Health Education Programs and the Accreditation Review | ||
| Committee for the Anesthesiologist Assistant; that same year, 16 | ||
| graduate students were enrolled in the program, and they completed | ||
| their studies in 2012; and | ||
| WHEREAS, In 2019, under the guidance of program director | ||
| Kenneth Maloney, CAA, the Case Western Reserve University | ||
| Anesthesiologist Assistant Program expanded to provide clinical | ||
| rotations in Central Texas at Baylor Scott and White Health in North | ||
| Austin; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Certified anesthesiologist assistants currently | ||
| provide anesthesia within an anesthesia care team at many major | ||
| hospitals in Texas, including the Heart Hospital of Austin, Baylor | ||
| Scott and White Health, Children's Medical Center Dallas, Methodist | ||
| Hospital, Memorial Hermann Orthopedic and Spine Hospital, Memorial | ||
| Hermann Southwest, Memorial Hermann The Woodlands, Memorial | ||
| Hermann Sugar Land, St. David's Hospital System in Austin, and | ||
| Texas Heart Institute at Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Certified anesthesiologist assistants practice in | ||
| 19 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Territory of Guam; | ||
| they also practice within the Medicare system and provide | ||
| anesthesia services for a multitude of medical procedures every | ||
| year in the United States; they have practiced in Texas since 1997, | ||
| when Dr. John Zerwas of Greater Houston Anesthesiology brought them | ||
| into the practice to address the shortage in anesthesia providers; | ||
| and | ||
| WHEREAS, The Texas Academy of Anesthesiologist Assistants is | ||
| dedicated to the ethical advancement of the CAA profession and to | ||
| creating a better future through innovation, cutting-edge | ||
| medicine, advocacy, and education; the academy is ably led by | ||
| president Tasha Krueger, CAA, Tim Goodridge, CAA, and secretary | ||
| Thao Nguyen, CAA, as well as board members Frank Trzaska, CAA, Jana | ||
| McAllister, CAA, and Paul McHorse, CAA; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Certified anesthesiologist assistants have | ||
| dedicated their careers to serving the citizens of Texas, and they | ||
| are indeed deserving of special commendation; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 88th Texas | ||
| Legislature hereby recognize the week of February 20 through | ||
| February 24, 2023, as Certified Anesthesiologist Assistant Week in | ||
| Texas and encourage residents of the Lone Star State to pay tribute | ||
| to these invaluable professionals. | ||
| Oliverson | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Speaker of the House | ||
| I certify that H.R. No. 1181 was adopted by the House on April | ||
| 28, 2023, by a non-record vote. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Chief Clerk of the House | ||
