Hospitals: medical staff membership.

Assembly Member Flora's proposal to expand medical staff membership requirements in California hospitals would broaden participation rights for various healthcare professionals beyond physicians and surgeons. The legislation modifies existing hospital governance rules to include dentists, podiatrists, clinical psychologists, nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives, and other licensed practitioners in formal medical staff structures.

The bill establishes parallel requirements for hospitals regardless of size. Facilities with five or more physicians must incorporate these additional professionals into their organizational bylaws and formal medical staff, while maintaining provisions for self-governance, regular clinical review meetings, and comprehensive medical record keeping. Similarly, smaller hospitals with fewer than five physicians must extend medical staff membership opportunities to the expanded list of practitioners. Both categories of facilities must continue prohibiting the division of professional fees among staff members.

Under the Medical Practice Act's enforcement framework, hospitals failing to implement these expanded membership provisions would be subject to disciplinary action by the Medical Board of California, with violations constituting unprofessional conduct. While the changes create new compliance obligations for healthcare facilities, the legislation specifies that local agencies will not receive state reimbursement for implementation costs.