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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 to repeal R.S. 37:1264 and 1265, relative to the
3 board of medical examiners; to provide for membership; to provide for congressional
4 districts; to provide for qualifications; to provide for an appointment process; to
5 provide for removal; to provide for terms; to provide for an effective date; and to
6 provide for related matters.
7 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
8 Section 1. R.S. 37:1263 is hereby amended and reenacted to read as follows:
9 ยง1263. Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners; membership; congressional
10 districts; qualifications; appointment; removal; terms
11 A. The Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners is hereby created within
12 the Department of Health and Hospitals and is subject to the provisions of R.S.
13 36:803.
14 B.(1) Until January 1, 2000, the board shall consist of seven members, all
15 appointed by the governor from lists of names submitted by the Louisiana State
16 Medical Society and the Louisiana Medical Association. At least one of the members
17 appointed to the board shall be a physician practicing in a parish or municipality with
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1 a population of less than twenty thousand people, and at least one member shall be
2 appointed from the list submitted by the Louisiana Medical Association.
3 (2) Beginning on January 1, 2000, the board shall consist of seven voting
4 members, all appointed by the governor and subject to Senate confirmation as
5 follows:
6 (a) Four members from a list of names submitted by the Louisiana State
7 Medical Society. One of the members so appointed shall practice in a parish or
8 municipality with a population of less than twenty thousand people.
9 (b) Two members from a list submitted by the Louisiana Medical
10 Association.
11 (c) One member from a list submitted by the Louisiana Academy of Family
12 Practice Physicians.
13 (1) Beginning on January 1, 2017, the board shall consist of seven
14 members appointed by the governor, including one licensed physician from each
15 of the congressional districts and one representative of the consumers of
16 Louisiana from the state at-large who possesses the qualifications specified in
17 Paragraph (C)(2) of this Section. For purposes of this Section, the composition
18 of the congressional districts shall be pursuant to the 2010 federal decennial
19 census.
20 (2) Each appointment by the governor shall be subject to Senate
21 confirmation.
22 C. All voting members of the board shall be graduate physicians or surgeons
23 and practitioners.
24 (1) The qualifications of each physician member of the board shall at the
25 time of appointment:
26 (a) Be a resident of this state for not less than six months.
27 (b) Be currently licensed and in good standing to engage in the practice
28 of medicine in this state.
29 (c) Be actively engaged in the practice of medicine in this state.
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1 (d) Have five years of experience in the practice of medicine in this state
2 after licensure.
3 (e) Shall not have been convicted of a felony.
4 (f) Shall not have been placed on probation by the board.
5 (2) The consumer member of the board shall be a resident of this state
6 who has attained the age of majority and shall not have nor shall ever have had
7 material financial interest in the providing of medical services or who has
8 engaged in any activity directly related to the practice of medicine. The
9 consumer representative shall not have been convicted of a felony.
10 D.(1) The governor shall appoint the members of the board in
11 accordance with other provisions of this Section and the state constitution.
12 (2) When a vacancy occurs in the membership of the board representing
13 one of the congressional districts for any reason, including expiration of term,
14 removal, resignation, death, disability, or disqualification, the following
15 nominating process shall be satisfied:
16 (a) The physician making the nomination shall be a resident of the
17 congressional district where the vacancy occurs.
18 (b) The physician nominee shall be a resident of the congressional
19 district where the vacancy occurs.
20 (c) Nomination ballots shall be returned to the board office at least sixty
21 days prior to a vacancy occurring by an expiring term.
22 (d) Nomination ballots shall be returned to the board office at least thirty
23 days following a vacancy occurring by death, resignation, inability to act, or
24 other cause.
25 (e) The nominee shall not have been convicted of a felony.
26 (f) The nominee shall not have been placed on probation by the board.
27 (3) When the vacancy in question involves the consumer representative,
28 the governor shall fill the vacancy at his pleasure without following the
29 procedure set forth in Paragraph (2) of this Subsection, provided the consumer
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1 representative meets the requirements for such member specified in this
2 Section.
3 (4) The secretary of the board shall be charged with the duty of
4 forwarding to each licensed physician, by United States mail, to the last known
5 address indicated in the board's records, a nomination ballot. The ballot, or an
6 accompanying communication, shall indicate the date, time, and place, for the
7 counting of ballots. At a gathering open to the public, the ballots shall be
8 counted openly by the secretary or by one or more individuals designated by the
9 president. The secretary shall certify to the governor the names of the three
10 nominees receiving the highest number of nominations. From the names
11 submitted to him in this manner, the governor may select and appoint one
12 eligible individual to fill the vacancy in question. The governor should ensure
13 that several disciplines in physician specialty and ethnic diversity are included
14 among those appointed.
15 (5) In the absence of the secretary, or in the event of his inability or
16 failure to act, the duties of the secretary with respect to the mailing and
17 counting of ballots and the certification to the governor shall be performed by
18 the president of the board.
19 (6) The successor to each member of the board appointed from a
20 congressional district shall be appointed from the congressional district having
21 the same number designation as the congressional district from which the
22 member who is being replaced was appointed.
23 (7) Each member of the board appointed from a congressional district
24 to fill a vacancy occurring by death, resignation, inability to act, or other cause,
25 shall serve for the remainder of the term of his predecessor.
26 E.(1) A board member may be removed upon one or more of the
27 following grounds:
28 (a) The refusal or inability for any reason to perform his duties as a
29 member of the board in an efficient, responsible, and professional manner.
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1 (b) The misuse of office to obtain personal, pecuniary, or material gain
2 or advantage for himself or another through such office.
3 (c) The violation of the laws governing the practice of medicine.
4 (2) Removal of a member of the board shall be in accordance with the
5 Administrative Procedure Act or other applicable laws.
6 (3) The governor may remove any member of the board for good cause.
7 F.(1) Except as provided in Subsection D of this Section, physician
8 members of the board shall be appointed for a term of six years, beginning on
9 July first of the year in which the appointment is made.
10 (2) The terms of the physician members of the board shall be staggered,
11 so that each member serves a term of four years with no physician member
12 serving more than three consecutive four-year terms. Each member serving on
13 the board on August 1, 2016, shall be allowed to continue his current four-year
14 term. Upon completion of that four-year term, the member shall be replaced
15 using the selection process established in Paragraph (D)(2) of this Section. The
16 first congressional district shall be allotted to the first vacancy with each
17 subsequent vacancy being filled by congressional district in numerical order
18 from two to six.
19 (3) The at-large consumer representative shall be appointed upon
20 completion of filling all congressional district seats on the board and once
21 appointed shall serve at the pleasure of the governor.
22 * * *
23 Section 2. R.S. 37:1264 and 1265 are hereby repealed.
24 Section 3. This Act shall become effective on August 1, 2016; if vetoed by the
25 governor and subsequently approved by the legislature, this Act shall become effective on
26 August 1, 2016, or on the day following such approval by the legislature, whichever is later.
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The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Christine Arbo Peck.
DIGEST
SB 429 Engrossed 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 seven members comprised of 6 physicians,
one from each of the six congressional districts as established by the 2010 federal decennial
census and one consumer. The new members will be phased in as the existing membership
terms expire.
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.
Effective August 1, 2016.
(Amends R.S. 37:1263; repeals R.S. 37:1264 and 1265)
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Summary of Amendments Adopted by Senate
Committee Amendments Proposed by Senate Committee on Health and Welfare to
the original bill
1. Changes board membership from seventeen members based on physician
districts to seven members to include one from each of the six congressional
districts based on the 2010 federal decennial census and one consumer
representative.
2. Establishes a phase-in implementation to membership by congressional
district to replace existing board members as their current terms expire.
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