OLYMPIA – Legislation to support health care professionals in recovery from substance use disorder was approved by the Senate on Wednesday.
Sponsored by Rep. Tarra Simmons, D-Bremerton, House Bill 2340 expands the Compassion, Accountability, Recovery, Empowerment and Safety (CARES) Program to include nursing assistants. Health care professionals who successfully complete the CARES program can keep their license and continue to work with extensive monitoring.
“Completing this program is incredibly difficult. By expanding it, we are recognizing more dedicated health care professionals and giving them a chance to continue in their careers and support themselves and their families,” said Simmons. “We are also helping support staffing levels in our strained health care system by retaining these skilled professionals who simply made a mistake and are working to correct it.”
This legislation also reduces stigma by limiting public posting of enforcement actions once someone has substantially complied with all program requirements.
House Bill 2340 received broad bipartisan support and passed the Senate with a vote of 46-2. It now makes its way to the Governor’s desk.