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Senate health committee recommends 10 health-board appointees be forwarded to joint session
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Summary
The Alaska Senate Health and Social Services Committee on April 21 heard statements from 10 governor appointees to professional health boards and recommended the slate be forwarded to a joint session for consideration; no public testimony was offered and the committee will take up SB 281 at a later meeting.
The Senate Health and Social Services Committee on Tuesday heard statements from 10 governor appointees to state health professional boards and agreed to forward the slate to a joint session for consideration.
Chair Dunbar opened the April 21 hearing in Juneau and said the committee’s plan was to hear brief statements from each nominee, ask questions, and take public testimony at the end. After the nominees’ remarks and brief committee exchanges, the committee — citing AS 39.05.080 — reported that the list be forwarded to a joint session for consideration.
Among those who testified, Dr. Damian Delzer, a Fairbanks optometrist and former clinical senior examiner for the National Board of Examiners in Optometry, said he has worked to recruit doctors to practice in Alaska through an externship program and emphasized the board’s role in “regulating and controlling the practice of optometry and to protect and promote the public health, welfare and safety.” Senator Klayman asked whether Delzer’s Fairbanks clinic included both ophthalmologists and optometrists; Delzer said it did.
Eliza Ellsworth, appointed to the state Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy Board, described roughly 12 years practicing in rural Alaska (based in Bethel) and said physical therapists in rural settings often provide a broader scope of wound and frostbite care than in urban centers. Senator Tobin thanked her for her rural focus and asked about training and clinical scope for frostbite wound care.
Heather Crivello, a registered nurse from Kodiak appointed to the Board of Nursing, said her priorities are patient safety and access to care; she clarified she had not previously served on the board despite language in some materials that caused confusion. Michael Collins, a public member of the Board of Nursing and principal of a financial-services practice, described his prior service on the board and work on regulatory efficiencies, and committee members thanked him for serving in a public seat.
Ivy Vilani, nominated to the Board of Social Work Examiners, said she practices teletherapy through Headlight Health and emphasized efforts to align Alaska’s licensure and supervision expectations with other states to support mobility for clinicians. She described outreach strategies to build in-person connections with rural providers despite delivering most clinical services remotely.
Joanne Garrity, seeking confirmation to the Board of Licensed Professional Counselors, summarized decades of Alaska residency, a master’s degree in mental health counseling, work with serious mental illness and emergency-room risk assessment, and that she maintains a local private practice offering both in-person and telehealth services.
Norman Lee Walker, nominated for the physician-assistant seat on the State Medical Board, told the committee he has 27 years’ experience as a PA across multiple states and said he supports regulatory changes to reduce administrative burden on advanced-practice clinicians. Senator Tobin asked about Walker’s engagement with the Alaska Academy of Physician Assistants; Walker said he had discussed regulatory priorities with the state organization and generally aligned with its goals.
Sarah Rasmussen, the public member of the Alaska Board of Pharmacy and a former state representative, said the board has recently moved to submit a letter to the governor seeking to classify kratom as a controlled substance and described the board’s involvement in several pieces of pharmacy-related legislation. "A key part of that effort has been some of the work we're doing with the Controlled Substances Advisory Committee," Rasmussen said.
Kathleen Rice, a current member of the Board of Examiners in Optometry seeking reappointment, described clinical certifications and said the board must balance evolving scopes of practice with patient safety.
Chair Dunbar opened public testimony but reported that no one in the room or online chose to testify during the two-minute public-comment window. The committee then signed a committee report under AS 39.05.080 recommending that the governor’s listed nominees be forwarded to a joint session for consideration. Chair Dunbar noted that signing the committee report does not indicate individual members’ votes for or against confirmation.
The committee adjourned and noted it will reconvene April 23 to continue work, including a third hearing on SB 281 and discussion of a committee substitute.
Next steps: the appointees will proceed to a joint session for consideration; the committee’s report and any subsequent floor action will determine final confirmation outcomes.
