AB 270

Under current law, certain individuals may serve as a volunteer health care

provider by providing services at a nonprofit agency or for a school board or school

governing body while receiving no income from the practice of his or her health

profession. Currently, a licensed physician, dentist, or dental hygienist, a registered

nurse, a practical nurse, a nurse-midwife, an optometrist, a physician assistant, a

pharmacist, a chiropractor, a podiatrist, a physical therapist, a certified dietitian, a

nurse practitioner, or an individual who performs functions of a pharmacy technician

may serve as a volunteer health care provider under the program. To participate in

the volunteer health care provider program, a health care professional must submit

a joint application with a nonprofit agency, school board, or school governing body to

the Department of Administration, which may approve the application. A volunteer

health care provider providing services through a nonprofit agency must provide

services, except for dental services, without charge and is limited under current law

to providing certain services. A volunteer health care provider seeking to provide

services for a school board or school governing body must also provide proof of

satisfactory completion of any relevant competency requirements as specified by the

Department of Public Instruction and must consult with any school nurse at the

school. In a school setting the volunteer health care provider may only provide

services to students from 4-year-old kindergarten to grade 6, may only provide the

services described under current law, and must provide the services without charge

at the school. Current law makes a volunteer health care provider providing services

under the program an agent of the state for certain purposes including

representation by the attorney general in a civil action or other matter brought

before a court or administrative agency; mandatory filing of a notice of claim before

bringing a civil claim against the agent; and payment by the state of a judgment of

damages and costs against the agent when the agency is found to be acting within

the scope of employment.

This bill adds all of the following health care professionals to those who may

participate in, and receive the protections of, the volunteer health care provider

program: nurse aides, emergency medical technicians, psychologists, certified social

workers, licensed marriage and family therapists, licensed professional counselors,

advanced practice nurses who are certified to issue prescription orders, medical

assistants who hold certain certifications, health educators meeting certain criteria,

and dental assistants. Also, the bill exempts certain advanced practice nurses who

are certified to issue prescription orders from current law requirements to provide

proof of financial responsibility and maintain malpractice insurance while those

advanced practice nurses are serving as a volunteer health care provider under the

program.