Mr. Gardner called the rule requiring physician supervision “burdensome” and called attention to the plight of rural Colorado hospitals, which often struggle to recruit anesthesiologists. “This means that patients with emergent surgical needs often need to be transferred to other facilities, wasting precious time and putting patients at unneeded risk,” he wrote.
He added his hospital finds it challenging to comply with the federal CRNA supervision requirement when physicians are unavailable or unwilling to provide the required supervision of CRNAs.
He said the Colorado Hospital Association, the Colorado Rural Health Center, Colorado Nurses Association and Colorado Association of Nurse Anesthetists, as well as many of the state’s rural hospitals, join him in supporting the governor’s decision to opt out of the rule.
Read John Gardner’s editorial in The Denver Post.
Read more on Gov. Bill Ritter’s plan to opt out of the physician supervision rule:
–Colorado Society of Anesthesiologists Letter Opposes Anesthesia Rule Opt-Out
–Colorado Governor Plans to Opt Out of Physician Supervision for Anesthesia
