By Daniel Stefanski |
One of Arizona’s newest legislators continues to deliver results for her district.
On Wednesday, Republican State Representative Julie Willoughby announced that she had “spearheaded the expansion of the Arizona Resource Equity & Access Coordination Hub (AZ REACH), a pioneering program that facilitates the seamless transfer of medical patients, providing critical support to hospitals across the state.”
This expansion will be coined “the Arizona Statewide Transfer Escalation Pathway (AZ STEP).”
Willoughby’s release revealed that the AZ REACH Program “has been instrumental in facilitating the seamless transfer of over 4,000 patients, with an impressive acceptance rate exceeding 90 percent,” adding that “the program streamlines the transfer process by facilitating calls for placement, connecting practitioners, and following through on placement progress, allowing referring facility team members to focus on care.” AZ REACH started in December 2022.
In a statement, Representative Willoughby said, “As a nurse, I know that the AZ REACH program helps save practitioners time and patients’ lives. With the introduction of AZ STEP, we are taking a monumental step towards improving patient care, throughput, and access to specialty services, particularly in our smaller rural hospitals. During peak times, it’s imperative that clinical staff can focus on patients’ needs without being burdened by transfer logistics. AZ STEP will bridge this gap further, ensuring patients receive the care they require.”
The freshman lawmaker’s contribution to AZ REACH was “securing funding in the recently passed state budget for the inclusion of hospitals with 20 beds or less in the program.” According to Willoughby’s announcement, “the AZ REACH program initially included 25 hospitals across the state, encompassing Indian Health Services, PL-638 Tribally Operated, and Critical Access facilities. After the new funding kicks in, five additional hospitals will be added to the 25 hospitals already operating under the program, fulfilling a “critical need to support smaller rural hospitals during high-demand periods.”
Last month, Willoughby announced that she had secured $2.25 million in the state’s budget, which was “intended to support the efforts of the Chandler Police Department in their fight against Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC).” She explained that these funds would “be instrumental in advancing the capabilities of the ICAC department in tackling a range of criminal cases, including human trafficking, cold case sex crimes, homicides, and latent prints.”
Representative Willoughby was appointed to the Arizona House of Representatives by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors earlier this year after a vacancy occurred.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
