Chapter 973 Oregon Laws 2001

AN ACT

SB 786

Relating to cultural diversity in regulated health professions.

Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:

SECTION 1. (1) It is the intention of the Legislative Assembly to achieve the goal of universal access to adequate levels of high quality health care at an affordable cost for all Oregonians, regardless of ethnic or cultural background.

(2) The Legislative Assembly finds that:

(a) Access to health care is of value when it leads to treatment that substantially improves health outcomes;

(b) Health care is most effective when it accounts for the contribution of culture to health status and health outcomes;

(c) Ethnic and racial minorities experience more than their statistically fair share of undesirable health outcomes;

(d) The lack of licensed health care professionals from ethnic and racial minorities or who are bilingual contributes to the inadequacy of health outcomes in communities of color in this state; and

(e) The development of a partnership between health professional regulatory boards and communities of color to increase the representation of people of color and bilingual people in health care professions has significant potential to improve the health outcomes of people of color and bilingual citizens of this state.

(3) Health professional regulatory boards shall establish programs to increase the representation of people of color and bilingual people on the boards and in the professions that they regulate. Such programs must include activities to promote the education, recruitment and professional practice of members of these targeted populations in Oregon.

(4) Each health professional regulatory board shall maintain records of the racial and ethnic makeup of applicants and professionals regulated by the board. Such information shall be requested from applicants and the professionals regulated who shall be informed in writing that the provision of such information is voluntary and not required.

(5) Each health professional regulatory board shall report biennially to the Legislative Assembly in the manner required by ORS 192.245. The report shall contain:

(a) Data detailing the efforts of the board to comply with the requirements of subsection (3) of this section; and

(b) Data collected under subsection (4) of this section documenting the ethnic and racial makeup of the applicants and of the professionals regulated by the board.

(6) For purposes of this section, “health professional regulatory board” has the meaning given that term in ORS 676.160.

Approved by the Governor August 16, 2001

Filed in the office of Secretary of State August 16, 2001

Effective date January 1, 2002

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