SLS 16RS-1051 ORIGINAL
2016 Regular Session
SENATE BILL NO. 429
BY SENATOR BARROW
HEALTH/HOSPITALS DEPT. Provides for the Louisiana State Board of Medical
Examiners. (8/1/16)
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact R.S. 37:1263 and 1267, and to repeal R.S. 37:1264 and 1265, relative
3 to the board of medical examiners; to provide for membership; to provide for
4 physician districts; to provide for qualifications; to provide for an appointment
5 process; to provide for removal; to provide for terms; to provide for an effective
6 date; and to provide for related matters.
7 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
8 Section 1. R.S. 37:1263 and 1267 are hereby amended and reenacted to read as
9 follows:
10 §1263. Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners; membership; physician
11 districts; qualifications; appointment; removal; terms
12 A. The Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners is hereby created within
13 the Department of Health and Hospitals and is subject to the provisions of R.S.
14 36:803.
15 B.(1) Until January 1, 2000, the board shall consist of seven members, all
16 appointed by the governor from lists of names submitted by the Louisiana State
17 Medical Society and the Louisiana Medical Association. At least one of the members
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1 appointed to the board shall be a physician practicing in a parish or municipality with
2 a population of less than twenty thousand people, and at least one member shall be
3 appointed from the list submitted by the Louisiana Medical Association.
4 (2) Beginning on January 1, 2000, the board shall consist of seven voting
5 members, all appointed by the governor and subject to Senate confirmation as
6 follows:
7 (a) Four members from a list of names submitted by the Louisiana State
8 Medical Society. One of the members so appointed shall practice in a parish or
9 municipality with a population of less than twenty thousand people.
10 (b) Two members from a list submitted by the Louisiana Medical
11 Association.
12 (c) One member from a list submitted by the Louisiana Academy of Family
13 Practice Physicians.
14 B.(1) The board shall consist of seventeen members appointed by the
15 governor, including two licensed physicians from each of the physician districts
16 provided in Subsection C of this Section and one representative of the
17 consumers of Louisiana from the state at-large who possesses the qualifications
18 specified in Paragraph (D)(2) of this Section.
19 (2) Each appointment by the governor shall be subject to Senate
20 confirmation.
21 C. The board membership shall be made up of representatives from
22 physician districts comprised of the following parishes:
23 (1) District One shall be comprised of the parishes of Jefferson and St.
24 Tammany.
25 (2) District Two shall be comprised of the parishes of Orleans,
26 Plaquemines, and St. Bernard.
27 (3) District Three shall be comprised of the parishes of Ascension,
28 Assumption, Iberia, Iberville, Lafourche, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the
29 Baptist, St. Martin, St. Mary, Terrebonne, and West Baton Rouge.
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1 (4) District Four shall be comprised of the parishes of Bienville, Bossier,
2 Caddo, Claiborne, DeSoto, Natchitoches, Red River, Sabine, and Webster.
3 (5) District Five shall be comprised of the parishes of Caldwell, East
4 Carroll, Franklin, Jackson, Lincoln, Madison, Morehouse, Ouachita, Richland,
5 Tensas, Union, West Carroll, and Winn.
6 (6) District Six shall be comprised of the parishes of East Baton Rouge,
7 East Feliciana, Livingston, St. Helena, Tangipahoa, Washington, and West
8 Feliciana.
9 (7) District Seven shall be comprised of the parishes of Acadia, Calcasieu,
10 Cameron, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, and Vermilion.
11 (8) District Eight shall be comprised of the parishes of Allen, Avoyelles,
12 Beauregard, Catahoula, Concordia, Evangeline, Grant, LaSalle, Pointe Coupee,
13 Rapides, St. Landry, and Vernon.
14 D.(1) The qualifications of each physician member of the board shall at
15 the time of appointment:
16 (a) Be a resident of this state for not less than six months.
17 (b) Be currently licensed and in good standing to engage in the practice
18 of medicine in this state.
19 (c) Be actively engaged in the practice of medicine in this state.
20 (d) Have five years of experience in the practice of medicine in this state
21 after licensure.
22 (e) Shall not have been convicted of a felony.
23 (f) Shall not have been placed on probation by the board.
24 (2) The consumer member of the board shall be a resident of this state
25 who has attained the age of majority and shall not have nor shall ever have had
26 material financial interest in the providing of medical services or who has
27 engaged in any activity directly related to the practice of medicine. The
28 consumer representative shall not have been convicted of a felony.
29 E.(1) The governor shall appoint the members of the board in
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1 accordance with other provisions of this Section and the state constitution.
2 (2) When a vacancy occurs in the membership of the board representing
3 one of the eight physician districts for any reason, including expiration of term,
4 removal, resignation, death, disability, or disqualification, the following
5 nominating process shall be satisfied:
6 (a) The physician making the nomination shall be a resident of the
7 physician district where the vacancy occurs.
8 (b) The physician nominee shall be a resident of the physician district
9 where the vacancy occurs.
10 (c) Nomination ballots shall be returned to the board office at least sixty
11 days prior to a vacancy occurring by an expiring term.
12 (d) Nomination ballots shall be returned to the board office at least thirty
13 days following a vacancy occurring by death, resignation, inability to act, or
14 other cause.
15 (e) The nominee shall not have been convicted of a felony.
16 (f) The nominee shall not have been placed on probation by the board.
17 (3) When the vacancy in question involves the consumer representative,
18 the governor shall fill the vacancy at his pleasure without following the
19 procedure set forth in Paragraph 2 of this Subsection, provided the consumer
20 representative meets the requirements for such member specified in this
21 Section.
22 (4) The secretary of the board shall be charged with the duty of
23 forwarding to each licensed physician, by United States mail, to the last known
24 address indicated in the board's records, a nomination ballot. The ballot, or an
25 accompanying communication, shall indicate the date, time, and place, for the
26 counting of ballots. At a gathering open to the public, the ballots shall be
27 counted openly by the secretary or by one or more individuals designated by the
28 president. The secretary shall certify to the governor the names of the three
29 nominees receiving the highest number of nominations. From the names
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1 submitted to him in this manner, the governor may select and appoint one
2 eligible individual to fill the vacancy in question. The governor should ensure
3 that several disciplines in physician specialty are included among those
4 appointed.
5 (5) In the absence of the secretary, or in the event of his inability or
6 failure to act, the duties of the secretary with respect to the mailing and
7 counting of ballots and the certification to the governor shall be performed by
8 the president of the board.
9 (6) The successor to each member of the board appointed from a
10 physician district shall be appointed from the physician district having the same
11 number designation as the physician district from which the member who is
12 being replaced was appointed.
13 (7) Each member of the board appointed from a physician district to fill
14 a vacancy occurring by death, resignation, inability to act, or other cause, shall
15 serve for the remainder of the term of his predecessor.
16 F.(1) A board member may be removed upon one or more of the
17 following grounds:
18 (a) The refusal or inability for any reason to perform his duties as a
19 member of the board in an efficient, responsible, and professional manner.
20 (b) The misuse of office to obtain personal, pecuniary, or material gain
21 or advantage for himself or another through such office.
22 (c) The violation of the laws governing the practice of medicine.
23 (2) Removal of a member of the board shall be in accordance with the
24 Administrative Procedure Act or other applicable laws.
25 (3) The governor may remove any member of the board for good cause.
26 G.(1) Except as provided in Subsection E of this Section, physician
27 members of the board shall be appointed for a term of six years, beginning on
28 July first of the year in which the appointment is made.
29 (2) The terms of the physician members of the board shall be staggered,
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1 so that the terms of no more than six physician members shall expire in any
2 year. Each member shall serve until a successor is appointed and qualified.
3 (3) The at-large consumer representative shall serve at the pleasure of
4 the governor.
5 C. All voting members of the board shall be graduate physicians or surgeons
6 and practitioners.
7 * * *
8 §1267. Quorum
9 Four Nine members of the board constitute a quorum for all purposes
10 including the holding of examinations, the granting of licenses and permits,
11 rulemaking and, except as provided in R.S. 37:1285.1, the adjudication functions of
12 the board.
13 Section 2. R.S. 37:1264 and 1265 are hereby repealed.
14 Section 3. This Act shall become effective on August 1, 2016; if vetoed by the
15 governor and subsequently approved by the legislature, this Act shall become effective on
16 August 1, 2016, or on the day following such approval by the legislature, whichever is later.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Christine Arbo Peck.
DIGEST
SB 429 Original 2016 Regular Session Barrow
Present law provides that membership of the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners
shall include seven voting members appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate
to include:
(1)Four members from a list of names submitted by the Louisiana State Medical
Society. One of the members from a parish or municipality with less than twenty
thousand people.
(2)Two members submitted by the Louisiana Medical Association.
(3)One member submitted from the Louisiana Academy of Family Practice Physicians.
Present law provides that all voting members of the board must be graduate physicians or
surgeons and practitioners.
Present law provides for the mechanism to fill vacancies and for removal of members and
for terms of appointment.
Proposed law provides that the board shall have seventeen members comprised of 16
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physicians and one consumer. The physicians shall be from physician districts established
as follows:
(1)District One shall be comprised of the parishes of Jefferson and St. Tammany.
(2)District Two shall be comprised of the parishes of Orleans, Plaquemines, and St.
Bernard.
(3)District Three shall be comprised of the parishes of Ascension, Assumption, Iberia,
Iberville, Lafourche, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Martin, St.
Mary, Terrebonne, and West Baton Rouge.
(4)District Four shall be comprised of the parishes of Bienville, Bossier, Caddo,
Claiborne, DeSoto, Natchitoches, Red River, Sabine, and Webster.
(5)District Five shall be comprised of the parishes of Caldwell, East Carroll, Franklin,
Jackson, Lincoln, Madison, Morehouse, Ouachita, Richland, Tensas, Union, West
Carroll, and Winn.
(6)District Six shall be comprised of the parishes of East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana,
Livingston, St. Helena, Tangipahoa, Washington, and West Feliciana.
(7)District Seven shall be comprised of the parishes of Acadia, Calcasieu, Cameron,
Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, and Vermilion.
(8)District Eight shall be comprised of the parishes of Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard,
Catahoula, Concordia, Evangeline, Grant, LaSalle, Pointe Coupee, Rapides, St.
Landry, and Vernon.
Proposed law provides the following specific qualifications for physicians to be eligible for
appointment:
(1)Be a resident of this state for not less than six months.
(2)Be currently licensed and in good standing to engage in the practice of medicine in
this state.
(3)Be actively engaged in the practice of medicine in this state.
(4)Have five years of experience in the practice of medicine in this state after licensure.
(5)Shall not have been convicted of a felony.
(6)Shall not have been placed on probation by the board.
Proposed law provides for procedure for appointment, filling of vacancies, removal and
duration of terms.
Present law provides that a quorum of the board is four members. Proposed law increases
the quorum to nine members.
Effective August 1, 2016.
(Amends R.S. 37:1263 and 1267; repeals R.S. 37:1264 and 1265)
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