JCHC Holds First 2008 Meeting

VHCA (5/30/2008)

The Joint Commission on Health Care (JCHC) elected Senator Edward Houck as Chairman and Delegate Phillip Hamilton as Vice Chairman at its 2008 organizational meeting on May 28th.

New members to the Commission this year are Senators Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth), Patsy Ticer (D-Alexandria), Ralph Northam (D-Norfolk), George Barker (D-Fairfax) and Delegate David Bulova (D-Fairfax).

The Joint Commission’s 2008 Workplan include the following:

• Study of alternatives to traditional long term care facilities, including intentional communities of clustered homes.
• Study of support services for family caregivers of the frail elderly and disabled and community-based caregiver support organizations.
• Study of the use of disclosure, apologies, alternative dispute resolution, and other measures in the case of medical errors and adverse medical outcomes and the impact of such measures on the cost and quality of care, patient confidence, and the medical malpractice system.
• Review of mental health system in the Commonwealth.
• Study of the availability of psychiatrists in Virginia, their role in commitment hearings, and methods to increase the recruitment and retention of psychiatrists.
• Continuation of the 2006-2007 study on health care costs.
• Continuation and expansion of the 2006-2007 study on the shortage of geriatricians in Virginia.

For a complete listing of the JCHC membership and other information click here.  JCHC meetings for 2008 have not been scheduled as of May 30th.