VANA responds to Joint Commission on Health Care vote on the future of the Anesthesia Workforce in Virginia

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 19, 2024

CONTACT:
Adam Bitely
202.689.9266
[email protected]

 

VANA responds to Joint Commission on Health Care vote on the future of the Anesthesia Workforce in Virginia 

 

RICHMOND, VA. – The following statement was issued today by Derek Owens, DrAP, CRNA, president of the Virginia Association of Nurse Anesthetists (VANA), following a December 17 vote on policy recommendations resulting from the Joint Commission on Health Care (JCHC) report titled Strategies to Strengthen the Anesthesia Workforce in Virginia:

“The Virginia Association of Nurse Anesthetists (VANA) is disappointed by the Joint Commission on Health Care’s decision to maintain the status quo and reject the options presented by JCHC staff to modernize Virginia’s anesthesia delivery model. This decision comes after yet a third study in the past 12 months reaffirmed that Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) are safe, effective providers with no evidence of increased patient harm when practicing to the full extent of their license. Instead of embracing these findings, the JCHC opted to allocate significant resources to license a third anesthesia provider, whose mandatory supervision requirements will fail to alleviate workforce shortages in Virginia and may further diminish the CRNA workforce in the Commonwealth.

“This decision does not make sense and undermines efforts to expand and modernize the anesthesia workforce. Virginia faces an anesthesia provider shortage, and every day, hospitals, dental offices, podiatry practices, and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) depend on CRNAs as the sole anesthesia providers in these settings. Notably, these facilities have no record of increased patient harm associated with CRNAs.

“This decision reflects the broader struggle of Virginia’s patients who must contend with powerful, entrenched interests leading policy efforts, resisting change despite clear evidence of safety, effectiveness, and need.

“We will not back down in our fight to ensure Virginia’s patients have accessible, high-quality anesthesia care. VANA remains steadfast in its mission to advocate for policies that empower CRNAs to deliver safe, patient-centered care.

Referenced studies from the past year are available here:

  1. Strategies to Strengthen the Anesthesia Workforce in Virginia – 2024
  2. Identifying Strategies for Strengthening the Health Care Workforce in the Commonwealth of Virginia – 2023
  3. Virginia Department of Health Professions Report – 2023

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About VANA

The mission of the Virginia Association of Nurse Anesthetists is to promote safe anesthesia care and to advance and enhance the art and science of the profession of nurse anesthesia in the Commonwealth of Virginia. VANA boasts more than 1,800 members and more than 200 student residents. Learn more about VANA at www.virginiacrna.org.

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