Virginia Board of Health

The Virginia Board of Health is a 15-member independent agency that regulates health facilities in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is playing a prominent role in abortion access issues. Organization The board is appointed by the Governor for four-year terms. Members may not serve more than two consecutive terms. The law specifies: Two members of the Board shall be members of the Medical Society of Virginia, one member shall be a member of the Virginia Pharmaceutical Association, one member shall be a member of the State Dental Association, one member shall be a member of the Virginia Nurses' Association, one member shall be a member of the Virginia Veterinary Medical Association, one member shall be a representative of local government, one member shall be a representative of the hospital industry, one member shall be a representative of the nursing home industry, one member shall be a representative of the licensed health carriers responsible under Title 38.2 for a managed care health insurance plan, one member shall be a corporate purchaser of health care, two members shall be consumers, one member shall have public environmental health expertise, and one member shall be a representative of the emergency medical services community recommended by the State Emergency Medical Services Advisory Board. It holds four or five meetings each year with at least one meeting in Richmond, but usually holds the rest in cities around the state. Duties In many ways, the Board is the policy-making arm of the Virginia Department of Health and the law gives the Board a variety of important duties. The Board establishes the framework for Virginia's public health services. The Board also approves regulations for the Department of Health and can grant exemptions from those regulations. This includes regulations governing research using human subjects. Regarding health care access and economics, the Board sets the income limitations on medically indigent patients and sets the charges to be paid for the medical care services of the Department. It works with the Virginia Health Planning Board to consider issues of health care policy and financing and issues formal studies on these subject.