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Medical board requests $14.3M and outlines compacts, complaint and monitoring changes
Summary
Stephanie Luca of the State Medical Board of Ohio told the House Health Committee the board's proposed operating budget is $14,315,000 for FY2026 and $14,891,000 for FY2027; she described the impact of interstate licensure compacts, rising complaint complexity, and a confidential monitoring program administered with Ohio PHP.
The State Medical Board of Ohio presented a proposed operating budget of $14,315,000 for fiscal year 2026 and $14,891,000 for fiscal year 2027 and emphasized that its requests require no general revenue fund dollars.
"The board's mission is to protect and enhance the health and safety of the public through effective medical regulation," Stephanie Luca, director of the State Medical Board, said. She told the committee the board licenses more than 100,000 medical professionals across 13 license types and has grown licensing volume roughly 7% over the last five years.
Luca outlined the board’s recent enforcement and outreach work: in 2024 the board received over 6,000 complaints and closed about 6,500, issuing 247 formal actions that included 52 revocations, 37 suspensions and 33 reprimands. She said the board has invested resources to implement interstate compacts that expand licensure pathways — including the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (IMLC) — and that compacts have brought thousands of out-of-state licensees and added operational and investigative workload.
On practitioner impairment and confidential monitoring, Luca described the Ohio Professionals Health Program (Ohio PHP), which provides wraparound services and confidential monitoring for practitioners with substance use, mental-health or physical impairments. She said reporting to Ohio PHP fulfills a licensee's duty to report and that the program works with practitioners to allow them to continue practice safely when appropriate. The board only becomes involved if Ohio PHP reports noncompliance.
Committee members asked about staffing and revenue tied to compacts; Luca said the board has repurposed staff to manage compact work (including assigning a dedicated attorney), has not added positions specifically for compacts so far, and is monitoring revenue trends from compact licenses.
The committee did not take action on the budget request during the hearing.
