State Sen. Laura Wakim Chapman to lead Health and Human Resources Committee
WHEELING — Legislation pertaining to religious exemptions from school vaccinations, foster care and access to health care in West Virginia all will be vetted first by State Sen. Laura Wakim Chapman starting this legislative session.
Wakim Chapman, R-Ohio, was announced as the new chair of the Senate Health and Human Resources Committee on Wednesday. The position was held during the last Legislature by former Sen. Mike Maroney, R-Marshall, a radiologist.
Typically a medical doctor chairs the Health and Human Resources Committee, while Wakim Chapman is a constitutional attorney.
“A lot of people don’t realize I served on the (Ohio County) Health Department Board,” she explained. “And as a mother of two small children, health issues are a priority of mine.
“While our hospitals do a wonderful job caring for people of the Ohio Valley, as a state we have significant health issues that need to be addressed.”
Wakim Chapman noted that by many medical sources West Virginia is ranked 50th among the states for health outcomes. The Mountain State also has high mortality rates, she added.
“If we can increase the ability for people to have better health care access, that would help those issues,” she continued.
Wakim Chapman also suggested that lowering the cost of health care insurance could “make inroads for the people of West Virginia,” and that many residents also don’t have a means of transportation to see specialists outside of their communities.
“And a lot of our medical providers are overworked,” she said. “We need to work on incentivizing health care providers to come to West Virginia and stay here. We need to bring them in where we have health care shortages.”
Wakim Chapman said her goals as chairman will be to increase health insurance options for West Virginians and make healthcare more affordable.
She is especially glad a regional cancer center is coming to downtown Wheeling.
“I know several physicians who have stepped up and told me their perspective,” Wakim Chapman said. “I’ve also heard from people in West Virginia, and what their issues are. What I am hearing is that travel to and from appointments with specialists is a problem for rural communities.”
The committee also will be looking at bills pertaining to mental health and substance abuse.
She noted that what many people may not realize is that operations at the State Department of Health and Human Resources falls within the purview of the Senate Health and Human Resources Committee.
“Foster care and anything else that involves the department is on our agenda,” she said. “Foster care is also a legal issue, and this committee will have some say in how it is done.”
Among actions by new Gov. Patrick Morrisey on his first day in office was signing an executive order permitting religious exemptions for vaccine requirements for school children.
“I will run Gov. Morrisey’s bill regarding religious exemptions,” Wakim Chapman said. “It is important because 45 other states provide a religious exemption for vaccines.”
Also, it Is incredibly difficult to obtain for children in West Virginia a medical exemption from school vaccinations, she continued.
“Often it is a physician who doesn’t examine the child who makes the decision,” Wakim Chapman explained. “The child’s physician makes a recommendation, then it goes to a second physician to decide. The system is broken and needs to be fixed.”
(King can be contacted at jking@theintelligencer.net)