Utah Surgeons for Safe Anesthesia is a coalition of Utah surgeons, physicians, and other healthcare professionals which opposes legislative efforts to license anesthesiology assistants (AA’s) in Utah.  

Our primary concern is for the safety of our patients.  Despite two previous successive legislative defeats, efforts are again being made during this legislative session Read More

  • I am well informed about the proposed anesthesiology assistant (AA) legislation.  I am fervently opposed to such legislation and stand in disagreement with the Utah Medical Association's position.  I do so for various reasons, the most important of which being that i am a protector of my patients and am responsible for their care even while under anesthesia.  I have been involved in many operative cases that within a minute change drastically: an endotracheal tube can be displaced, a child can go into laryngospasm, and airway fire can occur, etc.  The idea that an anesthesiologist can supervise multiple AA's and be there at a second's notice is foolhardy at best.  I wish only to protect my patients as they have no choice as to who will take care of them or their loved ones in the operating room.  They rely on the relationship they have with their surgeon. They expect the surgeon to do what is safest for them.

    Nadim Bikhazi, MD

    -Otolaryngology

    Ogden, UT

  • I have a keen interest in the patients I refer for surgical and therefore anesthesia care. I believe that dropping the bar so far for someone whose responsibility will be to protect the lives and comfort of my patients is unwise in the extreme.

    Dean Bristow, MD

    -Urology

    Utah County

  • I wish to express my strong opposition to any legislation which brings Anesthesia Assistants to Utah. I am a Board Certified Anesthesiologist and have been practicing for 13 years. I do not believe that the anxious patients I see would appreciate having a poorly trained “assistant” watching them while the person with the real experience and training is down the hall or up the stairs. If the public knew about anesthesia assistants I believe they would stand up and say they preferred someone more trained for themselves or their loved ones. I strongly oppose anesthesia assistants because I believe it is unnecessary, unsafe, and not in the best interest of the anxious and frightened patients that trust us to make their lives safer.


    Richard Lambert, MD

    -Anesthesiology

    South Jordan, UT