BILL NUMBER: SB 1119INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator Wright FEBRUARY 17, 2010 An act relating to health care. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1119, as introduced, Wright. Health care staffing. Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of various health care professionals, including physicians and surgeons and nurses, by boards within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law defines and regulates locum tenens agencies that place health care licensees with clients. Existing law also requires a business that provides telephone medical advice services to be registered with the Telephone Medical Advise Service Bureau within the department. This bill would specify findings and declarations of the Legislature regarding the need for regulation of businesses that provide medical staff to hospitals and other medical entities, including travel health companies and nursing registries. The bill would also declare the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to regulate these businesses. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares the following: (a) California currently regulates businesses that provide telephone medical advice services to a patient. However, California does not regulate businesses that provide medical staff to hospitals and other medical facilities. (b) The temporary nurse staffing industry is estimated to range from 3,000 to 6,000 agencies nationwide. Nearly 6 percent of registered nurses in the United Sates are licensed in California. Approximately 19,000 California licensed nurses work as temporary nurses. (c) In December 2009, the Los Angeles Times published an expose revealing a wide range of agencies with varying, and in many cases almost no, standards for determining the licensing, competency, and background of nurses sent to health care facilities. (d) It is in the public interest for patients and health care institutions that temporary nurses meet minimum standards of licensure and competency. SEC. 2. It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation providing for the licensure and regulation of businesses that provide medical staff to hospitals and other medical entities, including travel health companies and nursing registries, in order to ensure that an applicant for a temporary position has the basic skills, competency, licensure, and credentials necessary to provide high-quality medical care to patients.