Senate Bill S7142

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S7142

SPONSOR: RIVERA
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the education law, in relation to restricted clinical
laboratory licenses

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To allow individuals who meet the requirements for a restricted license
to receive a license in the areas of immunohematology and microbiology.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill amends section 8610 of the Education Law by adding
immunohematology and microbiology to the list of restricted licenses.

Section 2 of the bill is the effective date.

 
              

JUSTIFICATION:

New York State based clinical laboratories are required to employ indi-
viduals holding valid licenses in clinical laboratory technology (CLT)
to complete these tasks. Pursuant to the Education Law and State Depart-
ment of Education regulations, in order to obtain a CLT license, an
individual must complete a two-year or four-year degree in either clin-
ical laboratory technology or cytotechnology and then successfully
complete a comprehensive qualifying exam.

Professionals in several fields including immunohematology and microbi-
ology may have advanced training and even decades of experience in these
areas - including graduate degrees in chemistry, physical sciences, or
other specialties - but not qualify for general CLT licensure due to a
mismatch between their skills and the CLT curriculum. This causes seri-
ous staffing problems in various settings.

With as much as 10% of the existing lab workforce within five years of
retirement, it is critical that we enact additional appropriate pathways
to licensure and practice. Personnel shortages mean delays in testing
which - in hospital settings in particular - can mean delays in further
medical procedures, as well as tests being done out of state.

This bill responds to shortages in immunohematology (blood banking) and
microbiology by creating a restricted license category in these areas.
An informal 2019 survey of just six midsized and large laboratories in
these fields showed 42 openings in the immunohematology and 29 in micro-
biology, with an average time to fill these specialty openings of six to
12 months - with some positions open for over three years.

This bill is similar to recent chapters creating limited licenses for
certain specialties in order to ensure availability of appropriately
trained lab staff, including chapter 276 of 2014 (mass spectrometry) and
chapter 227 of 2019 (toxicology).

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
120 days