Board of Hearing and Speech

Description

The mandate of the Board of Hearing and Speech is to protect the public's health and safety and to promote the welfare of the state by regulating the competency and quality of professional healthcare providers under its jurisdiction. The board accomplishes this through a variety of activities working with the Department of Health, Health Systems Quality Assurance division.

Board duties include:

• Regulating the competency and quality of professional healthcare providers under its jurisdiction by establishing, monitoring and enforcing qualifications for licensure
• Establishing and monitoring compliance with continuing education requirements
• Ensuring consistent standards of practice
• Developing continuing competency mechanisms
• Assessing, investigating and making recommendations related to complaints against audiologists, speech-language pathologists, speech-language pathology assistants and hearing aid specialists which may range from a Notice of Correction to a license revocation.
• Serving as reviewing members on disciplinary cases and serve on disciplinary hearing panels.
• Serving as members of standing committees, when appointed.
• Developing rules, policies and procedures that promote the delivery of quality healthcare to state residents.

Qualifications

The Board of Hearing and Speech is made up of three public members, two audiologists, two hearing aid specialists, two speech-language pathologists, one speech-language pathology assistant, and one medical physician. All members must be residents of Washington.

Board members must have five years of experience and be actively practicing within two years of appointment.

Public member representatives may not:

• be a member of or married to a member of, any other healthcare licensing board or commission;
• be a licensee of a health occupation board;
• be an employee of a health facility;
• derive his/her primary livelihood from the provision of health services at any level of responsibility.

Board participation expectation guidelines

The following expectation guidelines are intended to serve as a reference for current members and for prospective appointees of the board:

• Attend regular board meetings, scheduled for one day during business hours on Friday every three months. The board establishes its meeting schedule six to nine months in advance. The typical time commitment ranges between five to seven days per year which also may include an annual board meeting in conjunction with the Washington Hearing Society, and the Department of Health one-day Board, Commission, Committee conference.
• Board members may be appointed to one of the following:
  • Education/Exam Committee.
  • Disciplinary Committee.
  • Rules Committee.
  • Public Relations Committee.
• Prepare for all meetings by reading materials sent one to two weeks in advance of the scheduled meeting date. The packets take an average of two to four hours to read prior to each business meeting. In addition, time may be spent reviewing complaint files prior to each meeting.
• Participate on disciplinary panels that may meet by telephone or in person several times per year. Sometimes panels meet with short advance notice in order to respond to emergent situations to protect the public. Hearings may also be scheduled separately from regular meetings because of the number of cases that need to be heard.
• Assist newly appointed board members as necessary.

Total annual time commitment

• Meetings / Conferences: Five to seven days per year
• Meeting Preparation: One to three hours per meeting
• Complaint file review: Four to six hours per complaint assigned (about four days per year)
• Hearing Panels: One to three days per year

Performance guidelines for newly appointed board members

Attend an initial orientation about the board presented by Department of Health staff. This is about half a day in length. Initial orientation outlines the legal authority of the board, the roles and responsibilities of board members, ethics, confidentiality, the legal liability of board members and the Department of Health, the organizational structure of the Department of Health, roles and responsibilities of Department of Health staff, roles and responsibilities of staff attorneys and assistant attorneys general (AAGs), disciplinary processes, rule making and other issues.

• Attends committee meetings if necessary.
• Performs duties of current members.

Regular board business meetings and panels are scheduled every three months. Most Board meetings and panels are held in Tumwater, Washington. At least one board meeting per year is held in Kent, Washington. One meeting may be held in Eastern Washington each biennium.

Become a Board, Commission or Committee Member

Name and term expiration date of members

Meeting information

All meetings are at 9:00 a.m. unless noted otherwise. (subject to change)

2022

• February 4 (PDF)

2021

• December 15 (PDF)
• November 5 (PDF)
• July 30 (PDF)
• May 7 (PDF)
• February 5 (PDF)

2020

• November 6 (PDF)
• July 31 (PDF)
• May 8 (PDF)
• February 7 (PDF)