§ 23-39-5. Board created. (a) Within the division of professional regulation of the health department shall be a board of respiratory care consisting of five (5) members as follows:

(1) One physician licensed in the state who is knowledgeable in respiratory care;

(2) Three (3) licensed respiratory care practitioners;

(3) One public member who is a resident of Rhode Island. The public member shall not have been licensed as a respiratory care practitioner nor shall he or she have any financial interest, direct or indirect, in the occupation regulated.

(b) The director of the department of health, with the approval of the governor, within sixty (60) days following November 1, 1986, shall appoint one board member for a term of one year; two (2) for a term of two (2) years; and two (2) for a term of three (3) years. Appointments made thereafter shall be for three-year terms but no person shall be appointed to serve more than two (2) consecutive terms.

(c) The director, in his or her initial appointment, shall appoint as the respiratory care practitioner one of the members of the board or a person currently practicing as respiratory care practitioners in Rhode Island.

(d) The board shall meet during the first month of each calendar year to select a chairperson and for other purposes. At least one additional meeting shall be held before the end of each calendar year. Other meetings may be convened at the call of the chairperson, the administrator of professional regulation, or upon the written request of any two (2) board members.

(e) In the event of a vacancy in one of the positions, the director of the department of health, with the approval of the governor, may appoint a person who shall fill the unexpired term.

History of Section. (P.L. 1986, ch. 428, § 1; P.L. 1988, ch. 84, § 23.)