New council educates legislators on Utah’s healthcare policies

H.B. 176 was passed during the 2022 Legislative session, creating the Utah Health Workforce Advisory Council (HWAC). Among other duties, the HWAC exists to review and comment on Utah legislation related to our health workforce. The council has 15 members from state, public, and private entities and is chaired by Utah Department of Health and Human Services Executive Director, Tracy Gruber. The council wrapped up its first legislative session this past month, reviewing and commenting on 17 health workforce-related bills. The bills reviewed by the committee included topics like scope of practice, licensure, and academia/qualifications. The council is looking forward to the 2024 session to become more proactive and engage with legislators. They hope to become a well-known entity that legislators and bill makers will turn to for recommendations on health workforce policy and issues.

“The Legislative Review Subcommittee worked quickly, diligently, and used our personal and professional networks to begin to establish a presence for the HWAC in the policy making process.” said Teresa Garrett, chair of the HWAC legislative review subcommittee and associate professor (clinical) at the University of Utah college of Nursing.