Bills seek to boost health care workforce in rural Maine
Courtesy / Office of the Senate President
Senate President Michael Thibodeau, R-Waldo, speaks before the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety in support of his bill that seeks to address the shortage of emergency responders in rural Maine.
As the 128th Legislature enters crunch time, with a little more than six weeks left before its statutory adjournment date in late June, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are pushing bills to boost different segments of the health care workforce in rural Maine.
LD 1462, a bill sponsored by state Senate President Michael Thibodeau, R-Waldo, is designed to address the shortage of emergency responders in rural Maine.
The resolve, which was endorsed Monday by the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety, directs the Department of Public Safety to establish an emergency medical services apprenticeship pilot project to expand the pool of available emergency medical services personnel. Apprenticeship programs would be established in four geographically diverse towns that have 5,000 or fewer residents and provide accessible and affordable basic emergency medical training classes in those towns.
“In emergency medical situations, where seconds count, having a qualified medical professional nearby can mean the difference between life and death,” Thibodeau said in a written statement provided to Mainebiz. “The intent of this bill is to expand the number of qualified emergency medical responders in rural Maine where they are most needed.”
In written testimony provided to the committee for its May 1 hearing on the bill, Shaun St. Germain, director of Maine Emergency Medical Services within the Department of Public Safety, agreed with the goal of boosting the numbers of emergency medical service providers in rural area but expressed concern about the approach taken under the resolve.
“Our first concern with this resolve is what is meant by an ‘apprenticeship program,’” he wrote. “ Part of the current educational standards includes learning skills under the guidance of an experienced provider. Without more details ... it appears that this resolve would create a new path to licensure while duplicating much of what currently exists.”
St. Germain also expressed concern about the cost and logistics of having Maine EMS provide training in four geographically diverse areas of the state, as well as whether the pilot program meets the vetting requirements under current law.
The bill faces further action in the House and Senate.
Boosting primary care and dentists in rural Maine
A separate bill sponsored by Sen. Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, would boost efforts to recruit and retain more primary health care providers and dentists in underserved parts of the state.
LD 1287, “An Act To Strengthen Efforts To Recruit and Retain Primary Care Professionals and Dentists in Rural and Underserved Areas of the State,” received the unanimous support of the Legislature’s Taxation Committee on Monday.
“Maine is a big state, with many communities and people that live far from the hospitals located in larger towns and cities,” Jackson said in a written statement provided to Mainebiz. “People in rural Maine have the same health needs as anyone in Portland or Bangor, but care is often hard to come by. If we’re going to preserve rural Mainers’ way of life, we need to make sure they can get the health care they need to live. We can’t do that without helping to attract doctors and dentists to these parts of the state.”
The bill would extend an existing income tax credit for eligible dentists who practice in underserved areas that’s set to expire in 2020, moving the expiration to 2026. It also would provide the credit to more primary care professionals, such as physicians, nurse practitioners and physician’s assistants who practice in underserved areas — doubling eligibility for the credit to 10 providers in rural and underserved communities throughout the state, rather than the five currently allowed by the law.
The bill now moves to the Senate for an initial vote.
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