§ 1351. Board of Medical Practice

(a) The Board of Medical Practice is created. The Board shall be composed of 17 members, nine of whom shall be licensed physicians, one of whom shall be a physician assistant licensed pursuant to chapter 31 of this title, one of whom shall be a podiatrist licensed pursuant to chapter 7 of this title, and six of whom shall be persons not associated with the medical field. The Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint the members of the Board. Appointments shall be for a term of five years, except that a vacancy occurring during a term shall be filled by an appointment by the Governor for the unexpired term. No member shall be appointed to more than two consecutive full terms, but a member appointed for less than a full term, originally or to fill a vacancy, may serve two full terms in addition to such part of a full term, and a former member shall again be eligible for appointment after a lapse of one or more years. Any member of the Board may be removed by the Governor at any time. The Board shall elect from its members a chair, vice chair, and secretary who shall serve for one year and until their successors are appointed and qualified. The Board shall meet upon the call of the Chair or the Commissioner of Health, or at such other times and places as the Board may determine. Except as otherwise provided in sections 1372, 1373, and 1374 of this title, nine members of the Board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The affirmative vote of the majority of the members present and voting shall be required to carry any motion or resolution, to adopt any rule, to pass any measure, or to authorize any decision or order of the Board.

(b) In the performance of their duties, members of the Board shall be paid a per diem and their actual and necessary expenses as provided by 32 V.S.A. § 1010(b).

(c) The Board of Medical Practice is established as an office within the Department of Health. With respect to the Board, the Commissioner shall have the following powers and duties to:

(1) Appoint a director of the office.

(2) Employ or contract for legal counsel and such assistants as may be required, to fix the compensation to be paid for these services, and to incur such other expenses as the Commissioner determines are necessary.

(3) Employ, contract, or make arrangements for the performance of administrative, investigative, and similar services required or appropriate in the performance of the duties of the Board.

(4) Act as custodian of the records of the Board.

(5) Prepare an annual budget and administer money appropriated to the Board by the General Assembly. The budget of the Board shall be part of the budget of the Department. A Board of Medical Practice Regulatory Fee Fund is created. All Board regulatory fees received by the Department shall be deposited into this Fund and used to offset up to two years of the costs incurred by the Board, and shall not be used for any purpose other than professional regulation and responsibilities of the Board, as determined by the Commissioner of Health. To ensure that revenues derived by the Department are adequate to offset the cost of regulation, the Commissioner shall review fees from time to time, and present proposed fee changes to the General Assembly.

(6) Prepare and maintain a registry of all physicians licensed by the Board.

(7) Make available an accounting of all fees and fines received by the Board and all expenditures and costs of the Board annually.

(d) The Commissioner of Health shall appoint, and may terminate the employment of, the Director, administrative support staff, and any investigator or private legal counsel employed or retained by the Board.

(e) The Commissioner of Health shall adopt, amend, and repeal rules of the Board that the Commissioner determines necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter and chapters 7, 29, 31, and 52 of this title.

(f)(1) A classified State employee who is employed as an investigator by the Department of Health who is certified as a Level III law enforcement officer under 20 Vt. Stat. Ann. chapter 151 shall have the same powers as sheriffs in criminal matters and the enforcement of the law and in serving criminal process, and shall have all the immunities and matters of defense now available or hereafter made available to sheriffs in a suit brought against him or her in consequence for acts done in the course of his or her employment.

(2) A Board of Medical Practice investigator employed by the Department of Health who is not certified as a Level III law enforcement officer under 20 Vt. Stat. Ann. chapter 151 shall annually obtain a minimum of 25 hours of training regarding the methods of conducting investigations of alleged unprofessional conduct, as approved by the Board.

(3) Any Board of Medical Practice investigator employed by the Department of Health shall obtain as soon as practicable and thereafter maintain certification by a nationally or regionally recognized entity regarding the investigation of licensing cases, as approved by the Board. (Amended 1969, No. 187 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 1975, No. 249 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 1977, No. 91, § 1, eff. May 5, 1977; 1981, No. 100, § 12; 1985, No. 208 (Adj. Sess.), § 18, eff. June 30, 1986; 1989, No. 102, § 1; 1989, No. 250 (Adj. Sess.), § 92; 2001, No. 129 (Adj. Sess.), § 21, eff. June 13, 2002; 2001, No. 132 (Adj. Sess.), § 5, eff. June 13, 2002; 2003, No. 34, § 6, eff. May 23, 2003; 2003, No. 122 (Adj. Sess.), § 117a; 2009, No. 103 (Adj. Sess.), § 19d, eff. May 12, 2010; 2011, No. 61, § 2, eff. June 2, 2011; 2013, No. 130 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 2013, No. 141 (Adj. Sess.), § 20, eff. July 1, 2015; 2015, No. 2, § 5, eff. March 12, 2015; 2015, No. 2, § 6; 2019, No. 126 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)