Hearing DetailsJoint Committee on Public Health

Event Details

Status:

Completed

Event Date:

Monday, September 29, 2025

Start Time:

9:00 AM

Location:

A-2 and Virtual

Event Description

Healthcare Facilities, Workforce Development, Disposition of Remains, Professional Licensure and Scope of Practice, Patient Safety and Quality, Health Information Technology, and Miscellaneous Public Health Matters

The Joint Committee on Public Health will conduct a hybrid public hearing in Hearing Room A2 on September 29, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on bills relating to healthcare facilities, workforce development, disposition of remains, professional licensure and scope of practice, patient safety and quality, health information technology, and miscellaneous public health matters.

Individuals testifying should limit their remarks to 3 minutes. All panels should limit their testimony to a total of 6 minutes.

All matters filed in the House that are listed below are required to be reported on by November 28, 2025, subject to extensions consistent with House Rule 27.

Please be advised that all written testimony submitted will be read by Committee Members and staff and may be made publicly available at the discretion of the Chairs. The committee may limit availability or redact testimony that includes sensitive personal information or information that may jeopardize the health, wellness, or safety of the testifier or others.

***INSTRUCTIONS FOR REGISTRATION / TESTIMONY***

LINK TO PRE-REGISTER TO TESTIFY: Persons who wish to testify in person or virtually or submit written testimony may do so by completing this form linked here (https://forms.gle/4vvLmJJN1ceAofLa8).

DEADLINE TO PRE-REGISTER: Persons planning to testify virtually must sign up no later than 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 25, 2025. Individuals and groups testifying in person are strongly encouraged to register using the form above prior to the deadline. Registration by the deadline is required for those who wish to testify virtually during the live hearing and encouraged for those who wish to testify in person. Persons who do not have a Google account or do not wish to use the Google form can submit testimony and/or sign up to testify by emailing JointCommittee.PublicHealth@malegislature.gov. Please indicate whether you plan to testify in person or virtually. Participants who indicate that they plan to testify virtually will receive an invitation to the hearing with instructions via email after the deadline closes.

SAME DAY SIGN-UP FOR IN-PERSON TESTIMONY ONLY – IF TIME ALLOWS: Individuals who miss the deadline to pre-register for testimony may appear on the day of the hearing and sign-up to speak in person on forms provided by committee staff outside of the hearing room. Time permitting, when all pre-registered individuals have been called to testify, the Chairs will then call any individuals who sign-up on the day of the hearing.

WRITTEN TESTIMONY: If you would like to provide written testimony, please include the bill number in the subject line of the email, as well as your name, address, phone number, and organization, if any, on the submitted testimony. Written testimony is encouraged and will continue to be accepted after the hearing until the relevant bill is acted upon. Such testimony may be submitted via email to JointCommittee.PublicHealth@malegislature.gov or physically mailed to the House Chair:

Chair Marjorie C. Decker

Joint Committee on Public Health

ATTN: Ramla Hagi

24 Beacon St., Room 130

Boston, MA 02133

Please include "Public Health Committee Testimony, [Relevant Bill Number]" in the subject line of the email. Those who plan to submit only written testimony may do so before or after the signup deadline.

ORDER OF TESTIMONY: The Chairs, at their discretion, will determine the order of testimony during the course of the hearing. It is the responsibility of the individuals registered to testify to be prepared to speak when called upon by the Chairs. In the event that an individual is called by the Chairs and that person is not logged into the Teams platform, the Chairs will move on and call the next individual or panel.

This hearing will be recorded and archived for later viewing. Those who do not plan to testify but want to watch the public hearing may view the livestream under the Hearings & Events section of the legislative website.

If you have any questions, you may email Ramla.Hagi@mahouse.gov and Matthew.Murphy@masenate.gov.

If you have Accessibility needs, click here.

Item Name	Start Time	Duration	Webcast
Joint Committee on Public Health - 9-29-2025	9/29/2025 9:00 AM	02:02:48

Healthcare Facilities, Workforce Development, Disposition of Remains, Misc. Public Health Matters 9:00am - 1:00pm

Bill	Bill Title	Sponsor
H.3957	An Act establishing a fund for the Western Massachusetts Hospital	Michael J. Finn
H.3956	An Act exempting Fairview Hospital from determination of need requirements	Leigh Davis
H.2543	An Act requiring hospital to maintain services	Priscila S. Sousa
H.2540	An Act relative to the community health initiative payment	Todd M. Smola
H.2534	An Act preserving access to hospital services	Margaret R. Scarsdale
S.1574	An Act preserving access to hospital services	Paul W. Mark
H.2532	An Act relative to therapeutic psilocybin treatment centers	Lindsay N. Sabadosa
H.2525	An Act establishing a Norwood hospital working group	John H. Rogers
S.1622	Resolve establishing a Norwood Hospital working group	Michael F. Rush
H.2497	An Act relative to medical health and fitness facilities	Paul McMurtry
H.2494	An Act relative to emergency room procedure for prescribing or dispensing pain medication to certain persons on probation	Joseph D. McKenna
H.2477	An Act relative to patient access to certain health care services	John J. Lawn, Jr.
S.1544	An Act relative to patient access to certain health care services	Cindy F. Friedman
H.2469	An Act relative to the closing of hospital essential services	Michael P. Kushmerek
S.1503	An Act relative to the closing of hospital essential services	Julian Cyr
H.2461	An Act to ensure the efficient operation of hospitals	Hannah Kane
H.2382	An Act relative to office-based surgical centers	Tackey Chan
H.2378	An Act to increase patient access to certain health care services	Nicholas A. Boldyga
H.2368	An Act establishing a special commission to study the use, disposal, and potential re-use of durable medical equipment in hospitals and care facilities under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth	Bruce J. Ayers
S.1626	An Act to protect essential health services	Bruce E. Tarr
S.1580	An Act ensuring access to a resident representative in long-term care facilities	Mark C. Montigny
S.1572	An Act relative to acute hospital governance	Joan B. Lovely
H.359	An Act relative to health equity and community health workers	Marjorie C. Decker
S.251	An Act relative to health equity and community health workers	Robyn K. Kennedy
H.4121	An Act relative to supporting primary care physicians in the commonwealth	Paul McMurtry
H.2464	An Act relative to abandoned remains	Sally P. Kerans
H.2462	An Act to permit the scattering of unclaimed cremated remains at sea	Patrick Joseph Kearney
H.2444	An Act expanding after-death care options	Natalie M. Higgins
H.2436	An Act to eliminate fees for the removal of a child’s body by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner	Homar Gómez
H.2374	An Act relative to burial assistance	David Biele
H.2360	An Act relative to the operation of crematories by funeral establishments	James Arciero
S.1612	An Act relative to alkaline hydrolysis as an environmentally-friendly burial alternative	Jacob R. Oliveira
S.1611	An Act relative to natural organic reduction as an environmentally-friendly burial alternative	Jacob R. Oliveira
S.1529	An Act authorizing Valley Chapel in the town of Uxbridge to construct and operate a columbarium for the disposition of ashes of certain community members	Ryan C. Fattman
H.462	An Act establishing senior psychologist licensure	Lindsay N. Sabadosa
H.4226	An Act ensuring access and continuity of care to specialist and hospital services for dually eligible individuals	James J. O'Day
H.2222	An Act establishing a commission to study quality & accessibility to telehealth	William F. MacGregor
S.1414	An Act increasing access to ABA services by recognizing assistant level providers	Michael O. Moore

Hearing DetailsJoint Committee on Public Health

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