CHARLESTON -- A "turf battle" being waged in the state Legislature between West Virginia's ophthalmologists and optometrists appears headed for a showdown during the final hours of the 2010 session in Charleston on Saturday.

And it will take place in a House-Senate conference committee.

"I've heard that neither side is pleased with what we did," said Delegate Barbara Hatfield, D-Kanawha. A registered nurse, she is vice chairman of the House Health and Human Resources Committee that made several amendments to the original bill during a late Tuesday meeting at the Capitol.

The bill (SB230) initially passed the Senate on Feb. 23. After being reported from the House Health and Human Resources Committee, it was read a first time in the House on Wednesday. This means it would be ready for floor amendments on second reading in the House Thursday, March 11.

Delegate Carol Miller, R-Cabell, said she was one of seven members to vote against the bill in committee.

"I voted no because the more I heard, the less I liked the bill," Miller said.

Huntington optometrist Dr. Bill Ratcliff, who is president of the West Virginia Optometric Association, told House members at a public hearing Monday he believes passage of SB230 "would be good for West Virginia citizens." He said the legislation simply allows optometrists to do "minor surgery procedures in their office" and that it would expand West Virginians' access to such care.

Speakers objecting to the bill included not only ophthalmologists but also Gaylene Miller, state director of the AARP. The ophthalmologists argue that allowing optometrists to do more procedures isn't in the best interest of patient safety.

"We still have reservations about this bill," said Miller. "And we have to ask why only one other state in the country allows this. We can't support the bill in its current form. We hope you will reach a compromise."

Delegate Don Perdue, D-Wayne, is chairman of the House Health and Human Resources Committee. He and other members of that committee have spent several days trying to work out a compromise but confirmed that neither side is happy with the bill that finally emerged from the committee late Tuesday night.

Sen. Evan Jenkins, D-Cabell, said Wednesday that both he and Sen. Robert Plymale, D-Wayne, voted against the bill when it passed the Senate last month. Jenkins is executive director of the West Virginia State Medical Association. Dr. Carlos C. Jimenez of Glen Dale, president of that organization, was one of several physicians to speak against the bill Monday.

"This is a difficult issue," Jenkins said Wednesday. "At its root, this is a matter of making sure patients are cared for properly. We must ensure that the persons doing these procedures on the eye are well trained."

Most of those opposed to the bill wore a small white patch on their clothing at the hearing that stated "surgery by surgeons." The patches were distributed by Nancy Tonkin, executive director of the West Virginia Academy of Ophthalmology.

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