Help protect kids by maintaining pediatric-specific education and training requirements for healthcare providers treating children

Lawmakers usually do a pretty good job of understanding that children can be especially vulnerable to rapidly-developing diseases and that children need be cared for by well-trained pediatric healthcare providers. But last week the Senate Health and Human Services Committee passed a bill that strikes all reasonable pediatric safeguards for unlicensed alternative health care providers to treat children. In fact, the current version of the bill holds registered naturopathic doctors to a higher standardthan unregistered and less qualified alternative health care providers.

Does that sound a little silly to you? Us too! But Senate Bill 32 (SB-32) is not an April Fool's joke a month too early. Unfortunately, it's a serious attempt to undermine the child health protections in current law for the fragile age 0-2 population.

Click "Take Action" above to email your state senator and ask them to maintain child health protections and oppose Senate Bill 32.

While complementary and alternative healthcare providers should be allowed to care for children as part of the child's medical home team of providers if parents so choose, we must recognize that kids have unique and different health needs from adults. The early years of a child's life are the most important time for specialized pediatric healthcare professionals to monitor developmental milestones and deliver vital preventive care—such as immunizations—and it's critical that well-trained healthcare providers be involved in a child's care.

If SB-32 bill passes, there will be no requirement at all that alternative healthcare providers get any pediatric-specific education or training at allbefore evaluating and treating children. This total lack of pediatric training for alternative care providers is a grave concern.

The difference between "well" and "ill" can be quite small in children, and they can go from one to the other with frightening speed. Recognizing the difference requires both a sophisticated understanding of the potential disorders involved as well as a relationship with a medical home to ensure that no child "falls through the cracks" of the health care system. Children age 0-2 face a significantly greater risk of complex and potentially life threatening issues.

Well-trained pediatric healthcare providers, such as pediatricians and pediatric nurse practitioners, provide timely and relevant information at all well-child checks to ensure parents are educated about vaccine efficacy. This practice is not guaranteed in the care offered by unlicensed alternative healthcare providers. Given the recent pertussis epidemic and Colorado's first case of measles in nearly a decade, it is essential that infants and young children receive immunizations to protect not only their own health but that of the community.

Click "Take Action" above to email your state senator and ask them to oppose SB-32 and maintain child health protections.

Deadline: Thursday, March 6, at 5:00pm.

Questions?

Contact Erika Zierke at
720.777.6253
orerika.zierke@childrenscolorado.org