MY EXPERIENCE WITH REP. ORTIZ

As a physical therapy healthcare professional and business owner in Ketchikan, I have had frequent dealings with the State of Alaska Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing for professional license processing of our incoming physical therapists. 

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Since the last state licensing examiner retired (God bless you, Connie Petz!), professional licensing through the State of Alaska has been plagued with inefficiencies, delays, and a significant decline in service, with the bottom-line result being increased economic hardship on my business (and many others) due to licensing delays, limited access to licensed physical therapists, and inability to provide timely service to clients who need care.

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I reached out to Rep. Dan Ortiz to assist me with investigating solutions. He heard me when I told him I felt the solution to the problem was not more funding for the state. There is a personnel problem, a system problem, or both, in our state government. I proposed a path forward to pursue introduction of legislation to have the State of Alaska join the PT Compact, so that it will be much easier for physical therapists to obtain license privileges in Alaska from other states who are also part of the growing nationwide PT Compact. He recognized this as a viable alternative to our current professional licensing system for physical therapists. I am willing to help with this in whatever way I can.

 

I am a registered Republican. But I didn’t hesitate to reach out to Independent Rep. Ortiz as our local state representative for assistance. He took time to hear my concerns, and his office tolerated my clinic’s repeated phone calls as the licensing situation at the State of Alaska continued to worsen repeatedly since the beginning of this year. He gathered additional data to validate my concerns. Because of this, I gladly give my support to Dan Ortiz this election cycle. I wish him the best, and I hope that if he gets elected it will be his name initiating legislation to fix at the very least this part the problem with our professional licensing in the State of Alaska.