Establishes a temporary practice authorization program for certain medical professionals to practice in underserved areas

• Democratic5
• Republican1

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Toby Ann Stavisky says this is needed

According to the federal government, New York state has primary care health professional shortages in 119 geographic areas and facilities.1 These shortages occur throughout the state, in rural and urban areas. New York particularly needs more nurses in these areas, but New York facilities often have difficulty recruiting out-of-state practitioners because New York, unlike other states in the country, does not permit out-of-state practitioners to practice in the interim period during which the Department of Education (SED) accepts and reviews an applica- tion for permanent licensure. This bill increases healthcare staffing resources in designated shortage areas by creating a program to permit certain out-of-state nurses and physicians to receive a 180-day temporary license upon their application for a permanent New York license. The temporary license will be issued to out-Gfstate nurses and physicians so they may immediately begin work- ing in hospitals, nursing homes and other facilities in New York's underserved areas. The bill does not apply to "travel" nurses, or any other health care professional employed by an employment agency. Instead, to qualify for a temporary license, the employer must be a health care facility, and the employee must commit to work at that sponsoring facility for three years. It is important to note that this bill does not create a *compact", as it does not permit out-of-state practitioners to work in New York under the authority of their out-of-state license. Rather, the pilot program aims to improve staffing in healthcare facilities in shortage areas by enabling the facilities to hire and employ licensed out-of-state nurses and physicians who have received, and will practice under, a temporary New York State license issued by SED. Authority to practice under the temporary license ends after no more than 180 days and requires a commitment to work at the sponsoring facility for three years. By increasing staff resources in medically underserved areas, facilities will improve access to patient care. To determine the pilot program's effectiveness, this bill directs SED to provide a written report setting forth, at a minimum, the number of temporary authorizations granted by region or setting and the number and rate of conversion of temporary authorizations which became full licenses.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.