Wyoming has more health care issues than one group can tackle in just a few years, Gov. Dave Freudenthal said, and the resignation of several Wyoming Healthcare Commission leaders won't stop the group's progress.

"I think they have done some phenomenal work, but I also think we need to continue," Freudenthal said. "We intend to keep it moving."

He said several people have volunteered to fill recently vacated spots on the commission. In addition to the resignation of executive director Anne Ladd, the commission's two members from Casper, accountant Chris Muirhead and insurance agent George Bryce, resigned last week, saying it was time to pursue other interests.

The Legislature next year will consider extending the life of the Commission to 2009. The state pays for the commission's expenses, which will include three salaried positions and consultants to generate reports on health issues. The governor requested about $2.7 million for the commission for the 2007-08 biennium.

The Commission was created in 2003 to assist the governor and Legislature in addressing weighty health issues in Wyoming. The group spent its first year on the medical malpractice and tort reform issues. Lately its focus has been improving the quality of the state's health care system, lowering the cost, and giving more people access to care.

Freudenthal said the group is valuable but acknowledged the work is slow-going.

"Everybody wants to know, have we fundamentally changed the landscape of health care? We really haven't, but I don't know if that's a fair gauge," he said. "It's a problem that is national in scope, and plagues both the private and public sector. I guess I would feel badly if someone else had solved it and we haven't, but nobody's solved it."

The group has made significant contributions, Freudenthal said.

Two stand out to him: the group began thoroughly studying the "peculiarities" of extremely rural health care. Second, they pulled together a comprehensive set of data the governor and Legislature can use in making changes.

The commission's projects and reports are on its Web site. Among the recent work:

* A proposal to create a statewide health information technology system. The system, while expensive, could reduce medical errors and save patients time and money by reducing paperwork.

* Research on a "Wyocare" plan to support employers in providing health insurance to all workers.

* Work on a database of all health care providers in Wyoming, both for patients' convenience and for lawmakers' planning

* Work to establish clinical guidelines for Wyoming doctors

The governor and Legislature have more work in store for the group in coming years.

"There's a number of things we need the commission to do that we can't see another body capable of doing," said Sen. Charlie Scott, R-Casper, co-chairman of the Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Interim Committee. It's the committee the Healthcare Commission reports to and proposes bills to.

Among Scott's priorities for the group: continuing to look at ways to give more Wyomingites health insurance, reducing the state's Medicaid costs, and resolving medical errors and malpractice.

To be most effective the group may have to better understand its role.

"I think it's an unresolved issue within the commission: what is their role? Is it advocacy? Is it a think tank?" said Anne Ladd, outgoing executive director.

Also, the group must learn the best way to present its ideas to the governor, she said.

Some on the commission would like to see the group have authority in line with the school facilities commission, which decides what local educational facilities are needed in line with the bigger picture of education in the state.

But Freudenthal said, "Their role is to evaluate and create opinions, but ultimately, the stakeholders with an interest in health care, the Legislature and the governor have to be participants in the decisions."

The work will only grow.

"We've been handed a lot of things to work with in a rather short time frame," said John Vandel, dean of the University of Wyoming's School of Pharmacy and one of the commission's original members.

"Health care is a big dollar item in the state," he said, and an important one. "We don't have tremendous numbers of people but we've got to take care of them and do it in the most efficient way."

Reach Barbara Nordby at (307) 266-0633 or at barbara.nordby@casperstartribune.net.

On the Web: www.wyominghealthcarecommission.org