Committee adopts substitute and advances bill letting hospitals accept directed or autologous donations under conditions

The committee adopted a substitute and voted to advance HB 156, a bill to allow patients and families to arrange for directed or autologous blood donations for planned surgeries under federal safety rules and hospital protocols. Sponsors said the law would simply provide an option for non‑emergency, planned procedures, protect hospitals from liability and preserve existing federal screening and testing.

Family witnesses said directed donation offers peace of mind and can increase available units; Cooper Remkus and other parents described situations where hospitals had refused directed requests and families sought out‑of‑state care. "When we asked our cardiologist ... we learned that many have inquired about it. But to his knowledge, it has never been granted," a family witness said.

Transfusion‑medicine experts and the Red Cross urged caution. Dr. Cole Elliott, medical director for the Red Cross in Utah, said directed donations can pose safety and supply risks and warned the bill could signal distrust of the volunteer donor system. Pathologist Dr. Mark Wharton explained testing limitations and described higher positive‑test rates among directed donors in other programs.

The committee adopted a sponsor‑proposed substitute making clear that hospitals with existing safe internal procedures can continue to use them rather than invoking outside vendors; the bill passed out of committee with a favorable recommendation recorded 10‑3 (Representatives Fitzsmanu, Hollins and Barlow voting no).

Outcome and next step: HB 156 as substituted was favorably recommended and will proceed in the legislative process.