Reassembled Maternal Mortality Review Committee will review 2023 data in next report, due Jan. 31

Newly reassembled after Idaho lawmakers let it disband, a group of Idaho medical experts is preparing a report about pregnant moms who died in 2023.

The Idaho Maternal Mortality Review Committee met Thursday for the first time since being disbanded in 2023.

The committee’s next report is due to the Idaho Legislature by Jan. 31, as required in the new Idaho law that re-established the group.

The review committee’s purpose has been to identify, review and analyze maternal deaths in Idaho — and offer recommendations to address those deaths.

The committee’s last report, using data from 2021, found Idaho’s maternal mortality rate nearly doubled in recent years — and most of those deaths were preventable.

The committee was previously housed in the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. But the new law that reinstated it placed the committee under the Idaho Board of Medicine, which licenses doctors.

The committee is working to first address maternal death cases in 2023, and will then look into 2022 cases, Idaho Board of Medicine General Counsel Russell Spencer told the Sun in an interview.

That’s “because the Legislature would like the most up to date” information available, Idaho Board of Medicine spokesperson Bob McLaughlin told the Sun in an interview.

Idaho has several laws banning abortion. In the 2024 legislative session, Idaho lawmakers didn’t amend those laws, despite pleas from doctors for a maternal health exception.

How Idaho’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee works

The review committee, under the Department of Health and Welfare, analyzed de-identified medical records, health statistics, autopsy reports and other records related to maternal deaths.

The committee’s work “was not intended to imply blame or substitute for institutional or professional peer review,” according to a Health and Welfare website. “Rather, the review process sought to learn from and prevent future maternal deaths.”

The reinstated committee, under the Board of Medicine, will still analyze de-identified cases. The cases “will not be used for disciplinary actions by the Board of Medicine,” the board’s website says.

An advisory body to the Board of Medicine, the review committee is meant to “identify, review, and analyze maternal deaths and determine if the pregnancy was incidental to, or a contributing factor in, the mother’s death,” the Board of Medicine’s website says.

The board’s website says the committee report “will provide insights into maternal death trends and risk factors in Idaho year over year.”

Next Idaho maternal mortality report to include 2023 data

The review committee hasn’t yet fully reviewed or published findings from Idaho maternal deaths in 2022 and 2023.

In 2023, 13 Idaho maternal death cases were identified for review, and 15 cases were identified in 2022, Spencer told the Sun.

But he said the actual number of maternal death cases to be reviewed could be reduced, for instance, if the person wasn’t pregnant or if the death occurred outside of the year the committee was analyzing.

Spencer told the Sun the committee has already reviewed seven of the 13 maternal death cases identified in 2023.

The committee will also work to ensure that each case is “correctly associated with maternal mortality,” he said.

“If so, then it will go in front of the committee, and the committee and the committee will determine whether it was related to the pregnancy or if it was incidental to the pregnancy,” Spencer said.

The committee plans to meet three times this year, including last week’s meeting, he said.

The committee will likely review 2022 data in the first half of 2025, while it awaits the 2024 data, McLaughlin told the Sun in an email.

“It usually takes a full calendar year to receive relevant documents, input data, and have committee meetings,” he said. “We are doing everything in our power to review 2022’s data as soon as possible, along with the cases from 2023 and the expected cases for 2024 coming to us in 2025.”

How Idaho lawmakers reinstated the committee

In summer 2023, Idaho became the only U.S. state without a maternal mortality review committee, after state lawmakers let the committee disband by not renewing it.

In 2024, the Idaho Legislature reinstated the maternal mortality review committee through a new bill, House Bill 399, that widely passed both legislative chambers before Gov. Brad Little signed it into law.

Work to revive the review committee started soon after Little signed the new bill into law on March 18, McLaughlin told the Sun in an email before the meeting.

The Idaho Board of Medicine hired a coordinator for the review committee, who started Aug. 5, and worked to ensure the committee had access to data to conduct the work, such as receiving information to start case review from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare’s Bureau of Vital Statistics and working with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “to execute a data sharing agreement and memorandum of understanding” for its database, McLaughlin told the Sun.

Idaho Medical Association CEO Susie Keller said in a statement that the association was grateful to the Legislature for reinstating “this important health care resource for women and families.”

The medical association “commends the Idaho Board of Medicine for meeting the challenges of re-establishing” the review committee, Keller added.

Who’s on the committee now?

The reinstated Idaho Maternal Mortality Review Committee includes a mix of health care professionals, including doctors, midwives, a nurse and a paramedic.

The members are:

• Dr. Andrew Spencer, a maternal-fetal medicine (MFM) specialist
• Faith Krull, a certified nurse midwife
• Jeremy Schabot, deputy director of training and safety at Ada County Paramedics
• Dr. John Eck, a family physician in Boise
• Joshua Hall, the Nez Perce County coroner
• Dr. Julie Meltzer, who specializes in OB/GYN care
• Krysta Freed, a licensed midwife
• Linda Lopez
• Dr. Magni Hamso, the medical director for Idaho Medicaid
• Dr. Spencer Paulson, a pathologist
• Tasha Hussman, a registered nurse

On Thursday, the committee named Eck as chair and Spencer as vice chair, on voice votes without any opposition.

The committee then entered executive session — where the public is not allowed to attend — to review cases.

The previous iteration of Idaho’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee conducted most of its work in executive session, similar to other states, McLaughlin told the Sun in an email.

“To do its work, the (Maternal Mortality Review Committee) must review records of hospital care, psychiatric care, and other medical records, all exempt from disclosure” under Idaho law, McLaughlin said. “We also want to encourage open and free discussion among the members of the committee, which an executive session helps to promote.”

Two past committee members re-applied, but weren’t selected

Four of the review committee’s current members had served on the Idaho Maternal Mortality Review Committee when it concluded its final report in 2023, including Hamso, Meltzer, Freed and Krull.

But two doctors who had previously served on the committee applied and were not selected. Both of those doctors — Dr. Stacy Seyb and Dr. Caitlin Gustafson — have been involved in lawsuits against the state of Idaho or state government agencies related to Idaho’s abortion bans.

Upon request, the Idaho Board of Medicine provided the list of committee applicants to the Idaho Capital Sun. But McLaughlin said the Idaho Public Records Act did not allow the state medical licensing agency to “provide a more specific answer” about reasons applicants weren’t selected.

The head of the Idaho Academy of Family Physicians, in a statement, said the organization was “deeply invested” in the review committee’s work.

“The IAFP is deeply invested in the continued work of the (Maternal Mortality Review Committee) in its new iteration and hopes to see the high-quality data analysis and reports that were provided by previous (review committees). This work is crucial to supporting maternal health and well-being in Idaho,” organization executive director Liz Woodruff said in a statement.

Russ Barron, administrator of the Board of Medicine’s parent agency called the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses, made the appointments “in consultation” with the Board of Medicine, McLaughlin told the Sun.

Committee members were selected based on their education, training and clinical expertise, the Board of Medicine’s website says.

Asked why some past review committee members weren’t selected to serve on the new committee, Spencer told the Sun, “there’s nothing wrong with anybody who wasn’t on.”

Spencer said he couldn’t discuss reasons why specific people weren’t selected.

“We’re very, very grateful for everybody who’s ever served on this committee. We had enough interest in the committee that we were able to fill the different slots with people who hadn’t served before and provide new perspectives,” he told the Sun.

This article was written by Kyle Pfannenstiel of the Idaho Capital Sun.

More steelhead are headed for the Boise River the day before Thanksgiving.  

Approximately 110 additional steelhead will be released into the Boise River on Wednesday, Nov. 27. The Fish and Game fish stocking trucks will be releasing fish at the usual locations: 

• Glenwood Bridge
• Americana Bridge
• Below the Broadway Avenue Bridge behind Boise State University
• West Parkcenter Bridge
• Barber Park

The fish are trapped at Hells Canyon Dam on the Snake River and will be released in equal numbers (~22 fish) at these five stocking locations. 

Boise River steelhead limits are 2 fish per day, 6 in possession and 20 for the fall season. Though required in other steelhead waters, barbless hooks are not required for Boise River steelhead angling.

In addition to a valid fishing license, anglers looking to fish for one of the hatchery steelhead need a steelhead permit. Permits can be purchased at any Fish and Game office or numerous vendors across the state.

All steelhead stocked in the Boise River will lack an adipose fin (the small fin normally found immediately behind the dorsal fin). Boise River anglers catching a rainbow trout longer than 20 inches that lacks an adipose fin should consider the fish a steelhead. Any steelhead caught by an angler not holding a steelhead permit must immediately be returned to the water, and it is illegal to target steelhead without a steelhead permit.

For more information regarding the Boise River steelhead release, contact the Fish and Game Southwest Regional Office in Nampa or call (208) 465-8465. Check the department’s website to learn more.

BOISE (Idaho Capital Sun) — The Idaho State Board of Canvassers voted unanimously Tuesday at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise to certify Idaho’s 2024 general election results.

The Idaho State Board of Canvassers officially signed off on results of the Nov. 5, 2024, election after noting that none of the election outcomes changed following the county certifications and a random audit of ballots in eight Idaho counties.

In addition to none of the outcomes changing, none of the races in Idaho were within the 0.5% margin that qualifies for a free recount, Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane said.

“I’ve been involved in elections for a very long time,” McGrane said during Tuesday’s meeting of the Idaho State Board of Canvassers. “This was truly one of the smoothest elections that I’ve ever been part of – from leading into the election to going through it – and I think it’s really a credit to so many different people for us to be able to hold an election like this. I think the preparation and the very, very cooperative relationship that we have with the counties and the county clerks offices has just been huge.”

The Idaho State Board of Canvassers consists of McGrane, Idaho State Treasurer Julie Ellsworth and Idaho State Controller Brandon Woolf.

Record number of Idaho voters voted in 2024 general election

Tuesday’s vote to certify Idaho’s election results also makes the 2024 general election the largest election in state history in terms of the number of voters who voted. Official numbers released following the canvass show that 917,469 voters cast ballots, beating the previous record of 878,527 from the 2020 general election.

Idaho law allows voters to register to vote and vote on Election Day. Final, official 2024 general election results showed there were 121,015 same-day registrations on Election Day. 

The number of same-day voter registrations this year was so large that if all 121,015 voters who participated in same-day voter registration created a new city, it would have been the third-largest city in Idaho, just between Meridian and Nampa.

Turnout for the 2024 general election came to 77.8%, trailing the 2020 general election record turnout of 81.2%.

Certifying Idaho election results sets stage for Electoral College to meet 

The vote to certify Idaho’s election results Tuesday helps set the stage for the Electoral College process used to officially vote for the president and vice president of the United States.

“The purpose of today’s meeting, really, is to certify the results as official,” McGrane said. “So up until this point, all of the results have been unofficial for the state of Idaho. That includes everything from the presidential race, federal races and state races.”

Now that Idaho’s election results are official, state officials will send the results to Washington, D.C., McGrane said.

Then, on Dec. 17, Idaho’s electors will officially cast their votes for President-elect Donald Trump in the electoral college. 

Idaho has four electoral college votes –  one for each of its members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate – and all four of Idaho’s electoral votes will go for Trump.

Election audit uncovers poll worker errors, disorganized records

On Nov. 15, the Idaho State Board of Canvassers selected eight random Idaho counties for the audit, the Sun previously reported. The counties selected were Latah, Bingham, Elmore, Bear Lake, Custer, Minidoka, Clearwater and Jerome counties.

On Tuesday, Chief Deputy Secretary of State Nicole Fitzgerald said the audit results matched the unofficial election results completely in Bingham and Minidoka counties. But there were small discrepancies, poll worker errors, hand counting errors, labeling or organizational errors that the audit uncovered in six of the counties audited. None of the discrepancies – the largest of which involved 12 ballots in Elmore County – was large enough to change the outcome of any of the elections, McGrane said during the Idaho State Board of Canvassers meeting and again during a follow up interview with the Sun. 

For example, in Bear Lake County, Sen. Mark Harris, R-Soda Springs, lost one vote as a result of the audit, while his Democratic challenger Chris Riley gained one vote in the audit. Election officials on Tuesday attributed the difference to a hand counting error on election night in Bear Lake County. The error did not change the outcome. Final election results show that Harris defeated Riley by a margin of 20,907 votes to 6,062.

In Custer County, Republican Sen.-elect Christy Zito, lost one vote in the audit and her Democratic challenger David Hoag gained one vote due to what Fitzgerald described as an error in the hand-counting process on election night. That difference did not change the outcome either. Final election results show Zito won 17,750 votes to 6,859 votes.

In Elmore County, the audit was off by 12 ballots. Fitzgerald said there were 2,183 ballots reported in the five Elmore County precincts selected for the audit. But auditors only counted 2,171 ballots in the audit, Fitzgerald said.

The 12-vote discrepancy was likely due to issues and inconsistencies with the resolution board process on election night, Fitzgerald said. The resolution board comes in when a ballot is rejected as unreadable by voting machines due to an issue such as damage, stains, tears or some other issue where the resolution board is called in to take a look at the ballot to determine voter intent.

“What appears to have happened was that those ballots were just not very carefully labeled or organized on election night,” Fitzgerald said during Tuesday’s meeting.”It was really difficult for our audit team to determine which ballots belonged in the audit count.”

After Tuesday’s meeting to certify election results, McGrane told the Sun some of the notes and records connected with the resolution board process in Elmore County were handwritten instead of printed.

McGrane told the Sun he believes all votes were counted properly and the issue came down to organization and record keeping and not being sure which ballots should be part of the audit count, which was a partial audit of Elmore County and the seven other counties, not a full audit.

McGrane and Fitzgerald said they do not believe a full audit is necessary in Elmore County, but they said state election officials will follow up with Elmore County election officials about the discrepancies.

“We are going out there and meeting with them so we can identify some opportunities for process improvement,” Fitzgerald said. 

The 12 vote discrepancy would not have changed the outcome of any election in Elmore County. The closest race Elmore County was involved in was a District 8 Idaho House race that Rep.-elect Faye Thompson won over her closest rival, Democrat Jared Dawson, by more than 9,800 votes in an election that included three other counties. All but one county level election was uncontested in Elmore County during the 2024 general election.