(a)        The North Carolina Respiratory Care Board is created. The Board shall consist of 10 members as follows:

(1)        Two members shall be respiratory care practitioners.

(2)        Four members shall be physicians licensed to practice in North Carolina, and whose primary practice is Pulmonology, Anesthesiology, Critical Care Medicine, or whose specialty is Cardiothoracic Disorders.

(3)        One member shall represent the North Carolina Hospital Association.

(4)        One member shall represent the North Carolina Association of Medical Equipment Services.

(5)        Two members shall represent the public at large.

(b)        Members of the Board shall be citizens of the United States and residents of this State. The respiratory care practitioner members shall have practiced respiratory care for at least five years and shall be licensed under this Article. The public members shall not be: (i) a respiratory care practitioner, (ii) an agent or employee of a person engaged in the profession of respiratory care, (iii) a health care professional licensed under this Chapter or a person enrolled in a program to become a licensed health care professional, (iv) an agent or employee of a health care institution, a health care insurer, or a health care professional school, (v) a member of an allied health profession or a person enrolled in a program to become a member of an allied health profession, or (vi) a spouse of an individual who may not serve as a public member of the Board. (2000-162, s. 1; 2003-384, s. 1.)