§ 90‑2.  Medical Board.

(a) There is established the North Carolina Medical Board to regulate the practice of medicine and surgery for the benefit and protection of the people of North Carolina. The Board shall consist of 13 members:

(1) Six of the members shall be duly licensed physicians recommended by the Review Panel and appointed by the Governor as set forth in G.S. 90‑3.

(2) Five members shall all be appointed by the Governor as follows:

a. One shall be a member of The Old North State Medical Society. This Board position shall be subject to recommendations of the Review Panel pursuant to G.S. 90‑3.

b. One shall be a public member, and this Board position shall not be subject to recommendation of the Review Panel pursuant to G.S. 90‑3.

c. One shall be a physician assistant as defined in G.S. 90‑18.1 as recommended by the Review Panel pursuant to G.S. 90‑3.

d. One shall be a nurse practitioner as defined in G.S. 90‑18.2 as recommended by the Review Panel pursuant to G.S. 90‑3.

e. One shall be a duly licensed physician who is a doctor of osteopathic medicine or a full‑time faculty member of one of the medical schools in North Carolina who utilizes integrative medicine in that person's clinical practice, as recommended by the Review Panel pursuant to G.S. 90‑3.

(3) Two public members appointed by the General Assembly in accordance with G.S. 120‑121, one upon recommendation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and one upon the recommendation of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.

(a1) Each appointing and nominating authority shall endeavor to see, insofar as possible, that its appointees and nominees to the Board reflect the composition of the State with regard to gender, ethnic, racial, and age composition.

(b) No member shall serve more than two complete three‑year terms in a lifetime, except that each member shall serve until a successor is chosen and qualifies.

(b1) A public member appointed pursuant to sub‑subdivision (a)(2)b. and subdivision (a)(3) of this section shall not be a health care provider nor the spouse of a health care provider. For the purpose of Board membership, "health care provider" means any licensed health care professional, agent, or employee of a health care institution, health care insurer, health care professional school, or a member of any allied health profession. For purposes of this section, a person enrolled in a program as preparation to be a licensed health care professional or an allied health professional shall be deemed a health care provider. For purposes of this section, any person with significant financial interest in a health service or profession is not a public member.

(c) Repealed by Session Laws 2003‑366, s. 1, effective October 1, 2003.

(d) Any member of the Board may be removed from office by the Governor for good cause shown. Any vacancy in the physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner membership of the Board shall be filled for the period of the unexpired term by the Governor from a list submitted by the Review Panel pursuant to G.S. 90‑3. Any vacancy in the public membership of the Board shall be filled by the appropriate appointing authority for the unexpired term.

(e) The North Carolina Medical Board shall have the power to acquire, hold, rent, encumber, alienate, and otherwise deal with real property in the same manner as any private person or corporation, subject only to approval of the Governor and the Council of State as to the acquisition, rental, encumbering, leasing, and sale of real property. Collateral pledged by the Board for an encumbrance is limited to the assets, income, and revenues of the Board. (1858‑9, c. 258, ss. 3, 4; Code, s. 3123; Rev., s. 4492; C.S., s. 6606; Ex. Sess. 1921, c. 44, s. 1; 1981, c. 573, s. 2; 1991 (Reg. Sess., 1992), c. 787, s. 1; 1993, c. 241, s. 2; 1995, c. 94, s. 1; c. 405, s. 1; 1997‑511, s. 1; 2003‑366, s. 1; 2007‑346, s. 2; 2015‑213, s. 1; 2016‑117, s. 2(a); 2017‑206, s. 5(a); 2018‑92, s. 2(a); 2019‑191, ss. 2(a), 2(b).)