A BILL to amend and reenact sections one, three, four-a, five, eight, ten, eleven and fifteen, article one, chapter thirty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to further amend said article by adding thereto five new sections, designated sections four-b, five-a, six-a, six-b and seventeen, all relating to general provisions regarding the registration and service of health profession licensing board officers and limiting the number of consecutive terms an officer may serve; establishing a duty of health profession licensing boards to investigate and resolve complaints; granting the power to issue subpoenas and seek injunctive relief; establishing a method for application to health care profession boards for examination, licensure or registration; allowing health care profession boards to set examination fees; requiring boards to establish continuing professional education as a requirement for relicensure or reregistry; requiring health profession licensing boards to promulgate rules to delineate conduct, practices or acts which constitute a willful departure from accepted standards of professional conduct or which render an individual unqualified for authorization to practice; establishing special fund accounts for each health profession licensing board and limiting the sum which may be accumulated in each such account and requiring an annual audit of each account; continuing the office of the executive secretary of the health profession licensing boards, clarifying duties of the position and establishing minimum qualifications for the individual appointed to the position; expanding the list of health licensing boards; creating civil immunity for health profession licensing board members and establishing limited liability for health professionals who report or provide evidence of incompetence against a member of a health profession.

Unless otherwise specially specifically provided, every board of examination or registration referred to in this chapter including the West Virginia board of health, shall conform to the requirements prescribed in the following sections of this article.

Notwithstanding any provisions of this code to the contrary, the governor shall appoint at least one lay person to represent the interests of the public on every health profession licensing board enumerated in section fifteen of this article referred to in this chapter and those which may be hereinafter established by law. If the total number of members on any of such boards after the appointment of one such lay person is an even number, one additional lay person shall be appointed. Said lay members shall serve in addition to any other members otherwise provided for by law or regulation. Such lay members shall be of the age of eighteen years or over, of good moral character, and competent to represent and safeguard the interests of the public. The lay member is empowered to participate in and vote on all transactions and businesses of the board, committee or group to which he or she is appointed.

Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, no health profession licensing board member may serve more than two consecutive terms on any health profession licensing board enumerated in section fifteen of this article or referred to in this chapter.

Every such board shall hold at least two meetings each year, at such times and places as it may prescribe by rule, for the examination of applicants who desire to practice their respective professions or occupations in this state, and for the transaction of such other business as may legally come before it. The board may hold such additional meetings as may be necessary, which shall be called by the secretary at the direction of the president or upon the written request of any three members. A majority of the members of the board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of its business. The board shall have the power to compel the attendance of witnesses and to take testimony and proof concerning any matter within its jurisdiction, and for such purposes the president and secretary of the board shall have the power to administer oaths. In addition, health profession licensing boards enumerated in section fifteen of this article may issue subpoenas, conduct investigations and hire an investigator.

Every health profession licensing board enumerated in section fifteen of this article and those which may be hereinafter established by law, has a duty to, and shall in a timely manner, investigate and resolve complaints made to it, and shall provide the public access to the disposition of complaints made to it in accordance with the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-b of this code. Every such board has a duty to report, and shall report in a timely manner, upon receiving notice thereof, violations of individual practice acts within this chapter by an individual to the health profession licensing board where such individual may be licensed. Every person licensed or registered by any health profession licensing board enumerated in section fifteen of this article and those which may be hereinafter established by law has a duty to report, and shall report in a timely manner, to the board which licenses or registers such person a known or observed violation of the practice act or the board's rules and regulations promulgated thereunder by any other person licensed by the same board. Law-enforcement agencies and courts shall report in a timely manner to the appropriate board any violations of individual practice acts by any individual.

Notwithstanding any other provision in this chapter to the contrary, each health profession licensing board enumerated in section fifteen of this article and those which may be hereinafter established by law is hereby authorized to establish by rule a deadline for application for examination which shall be no less than ten nor more than ninety days prior to the date of the examination.

All health profession licensing boards enumerated in section fifteen of this article shall promulgate rules which require continuing professional education as a condition of relicensure or reregistry. These rules will be promulgated no later than the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-five. At a minimum, each health profession licensing board's rules shall require continuing education as a condition of continued licensure or relicensure, shall specify the amount of continuing education required over a set period of time, and shall establish compliance reporting requirements.

Each member of every such board shall receive thirty-five dollars for each day actually spent in attending the sessions of the board, or of its committees, and in necessary travel, and shall be reimbursed for all actual and necessary expenses incurred in carrying out the provisions of this chapter applicable to such board. The secretary shall receive such salary as may be prescribed by the board, but in proceedings relative to the fixing of his or her salary the secretary shall have no vote. All authorized compensation and all expenses certified by the board as properly and necessarily incurred in the discharge of its duties shall be paid out of the state treasury, from funds appropriated for that purpose, on warrants of the state auditor issued on requisitions signed by the president and secretary of the board except that all authorized compensation and all expenses certified by health profession licensing boards enumerated in section fifteen of this article and those which may be hereinafter established by law shall be paid out of the special fund established for each board by section ten of this article.

(a) All members of the health profession licensing boards covered by this chapter shall enjoy immunity from individual civil liability while acting within the scope of their duties as board members.