Board of Medicine seeks to extend physician‑health program eligibility to former licensees

Sandra DuPontis, executive director of the North Dakota Board of Medicine, introduced House Bill 10 309 (recorded in the hearing as House Bill 10‑30‑9) and asked the committee to hear the proposal to expand eligibility for the state's Physician Health Program (PHP) to include former licensees.

DuPontis said the PHP is a contracted, independent program that assesses and monitors health care providers with physical or mental health conditions that could compromise public safety. The program facilitates assessments, treatment recommendations and monitoring agreements tailored to providers' rehabilitation needs.

DuPontis said the bill would allow the Board to continue enrolling people who are no longer actively licensed — for example, a practitioner whose license was suspended because of substance use disorder but who needs monitored treatment to have any chance of returning to safe practice; or a retired licensee who still relies on PHP resources to maintain recovery. She said the Board, as a creature of statute, needs explicit legislative authorization to extend board funds to former licensees.

DuPontis said the PHP currently serves roughly 34 to 40 participants. She told the committee the gap this bill addresses has affected "two or three" people in the recent past. She said the PHP is funded primarily by the Board, with participants responsible for certain assessment or testing fees; the PHP seeks grants occasionally but the Board provides core funding.

Representative Rohrer and others asked practical questions. Members asked whether eligibility for former licensees could be indefinite; DuPontis said the PHP determines when monitoring is no longer needed and that participants can remain in a program at their discretion. Representative Fegley asked how many people might be affected; DuPontis repeated the program population and said the bill would likely affect two or three former licensees. Representative Hendricks asked what steps typically accompany returning a license; DuPontis said participation in the PHP is often a significant element of monitoring but not necessarily the only path and that facilities and boards sometimes use other monitoring options.

DuPontis said Senate Bill 2098 from the prior session extended PHP eligibility to students in medical education programs, and the current bill would again extend eligibility to a defined additional group — former licensees — so the Board could use board funds to support monitoring and rehabilitation. Maggie Siemens, executive director of the PHP, was present to answer program‑specific questions.

No opposition testimony was recorded and the committee closed the hearing on the bill during this session; no committee vote was recorded.