SB1179 - Doctors from El Salvador Program.

Amended IN Senate April 09, 2026 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Senate Bill No. 1179 Introduced by Senator Menjivar (Coauthor: Assembly Member Alvarez) (Coauthor: Senator Durazo) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Alvarez, Carrillo, Mark González, and Celeste Rodriguez) February 18, 2026 An act to add Article 6.5 (commencing with Section 2130) to Chapter 5 of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to healing arts. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1179, as amended, Menjivar. Doctors from El Salvador Program. Existing law, the Medical Practice Act, establishes the Medical Board of California to license and regulate the practice of medicine. Existing law establishes within the act the Licensed Physicians from Mexico Program, which authorizes the board to issue a limited number of nonrenewable 3-year physician’s and surgeon’s licenses to physicians from Mexico who are licensed, certified, or recertified and in good standing in their medical specialty in Mexico and who meet specified other requirements. This bill would establish the Doctors from El Salvador Program for the purpose of permitting licensed physicians from El Salvador to practice medicine in California for up to 3 years. The bill would establish a program administration committee and would designate Clínica Monseñor Oscar A. Romero to serve as the primary administrator and lead representative of the committee. The bill would require the committee to, among other things, develop an interview examination for each specialty area, develop an orientation program, and recruit and vet candidates for the program. require the program to be developed in consultation with representatives from a community health clinic in California that has an established partnership and framework with specified universities in El Salvador and would require the program to, among other things, recruit and vet candidates and assist candidates for the program in El Salvador to meet all program requirements. The bill would require the board to issue a nonrenewable 3-year physician and surgeon’s license to a person who is licensed, certified, or recertified, and in good standing in the applicable medical specialty in El Salvador and who meets other requirements of the program. The This bill would require a licensee in the program to only practice medicine in California at a federally qualified health center and any practice only in the nonprofit community health center that offered the licensee employment and the corresponding hospital. The bill would require a federally qualified health center employing a licensee in the program to take certain actions, including creating and maintaining medical quality assurance protocols for those licensees. The bill would also require the federally qualified health centers to work with a California medical school or residency program to conduct 10 secondary reviews of randomly selected patient encounters with each of those licensees every 6 months, as specified. The bill would also require the faculty from the medical school or residency program and federally qualified health center chief medical officers to jointly develop 2 quality assurance seminars to be attended by the licensees. This bill would require an evaluation of the program to be conducted 12 months after the program has commenced by one of specified universities in El Salvador and an unspecified medical school in southern California, except that if the evaluation does not begin within 18 months of commencement of the program, the bill would require the Director of Consumer Affairs to select an independent consultant to conduct the evaluation. The bill would require progress reports to be provided to the Legislature on achievable time intervals beginning in the 2nd year of implementation of the program. The bill would require the board to coordinate with the community health center, as specified, to ensure that the number of program participants that are issued a license does not exceed a certain number of licensees, based on the year in which the applicant applies. The bill would establish various fees to be deposited in the Contingent Fund of the Medical Board of California or the CURES Fund, as specified. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Article 6.5 (commencing with Section 2130) is added to Chapter 5 of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code, to read: Article 6.5. Doctors from El Salvador Program 2130. For purposes of this article: (a) “Committee” means the program administration committee established pursuant to Section 2130.2. (a) “Board” means the Medical Board of California. (b) “Licensee” means a person licensed under the program. (c) “Primary administrator” means the Clínica Monseñor Oscar A. Romero. (d) (c) “Program” means the Doctors from El Salvador Program established pursuant to this article. 2130.1. The Doctors from El Salvador Program is hereby established for the purpose of permitting licensed physicians from El Salvador to practice medicine, including, but not limited to, family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, and psychiatry, in California for up to three years. 2130.2. (a) The program administration committee is hereby established. (b) The committee shall be composed of the following members: (1) Two individuals designated by the primary administrator. (2) Two individuals designated by the Universidad Evangélica de El Salvador. (3) Two individuals designated by the Universidad de El Salvador. (c) The Clínica Monseñor Oscar A. Romero shall serve as the primary administrator and lead representative of the committee. 2130.3. The committee shall do all of the following: (a) Develop an interview examination for each specialty area. (b) Develop an orientation program that meets all of the following requirements: (1) It is modeled after the orientation program developed for the Licensed Physicians and Dentists from Mexico Pilot Program established pursuant to former Section 853. (2) It includes all of the following components: (A) Medical protocol. (B) Community clinic history and operations. (C) Medical administration. (D) Hospital operations and protocol. (E) Medical ethics. (F) The California medical delivery systems. (G) Health maintenance organizations and managed care practices. (H) Medication documentation and reconciliation. (I) The electronic medical records system utilized by federally qualified health centers. (J) Standards for medical record documentation to support medical decisionmaking and quality care. (3) It is approved by the board. (c) Recruit and vet candidates for the program. (d) Act as the point of contact for candidates for the program and assist those candidates with meeting the requirements for the program. (e) Select appropriate federally qualified health centers in California. (f) Ensure compliance with program provisions. (g) Develop policy and clinical workshops. (h) Monitor productivity and increased access to medical care. (i) Assess the necessity of policy or programmatic improvements. 2130.2. The program shall be developed in consultation with representatives from a community health clinic in California that has an established partnership and framework with the Universidad Evangélica de El Salvador and Universidad de El Salvador, and shall include the following: (a) Coordinating entities for securing required documents. (b) Recruiting and vetting candidates. (c) Assisting candidates for the program in El Salvador to meet all program requirements. (d) Selecting appropriate federally qualified health centers throughout California. (e) Ensuring compliance with program provisions. (f) Developing policy and clinical workshops. (g) Monitoring productivity and increased access to medical care. (h) Assessing the necessity of policy and programmatic improvements. 2130.4. 2130.3. The board shall submit to the Department of Justice fingerprint images and related information required by the Department of Justice of all applicants for a physician’s and surgeon’s license under the program to determine whether the applicant has a criminal conviction record in this state or in any other jurisdiction, including foreign countries, pursuant to Section 2042. The Department of Justice shall provide a state- and federal-level response in accordance with subdivision (p) of Section 11105 of the Penal Code for the board to determine whether the applicant is subject to denial of licensure under the provisions of Division 1.5 (commencing with Section 475) and Section 2221. 2130.5. 2130.4. Subject to Section 2130.6, 2130.5, the board shall issue a nonrenewable three-year physician’s and surgeon’s license to a person who meets all of the following requirements: (a) The person is licensed, certified, or recertified, and in good standing in the applicable medical specialty in El Salvador. This certification or recertification shall be performed, as appropriate, by the Consejo Nacional de las Especialidades Médicas or the Ministry of Health in El Salvador. (b) Before leaving El Salvador, the person has completed all of the following: (1) Passed the applicable medical review course with a score equivalent to that required of United States applicants for each of the person’s specialty areas. board review course with a score equivalent to that registered by United States applicants when passing a board review course for the United States certification examination in each of the physician’s specialty areas and passed an interview examination the entities developed in consultation with the community health clinic referenced in Section 2130.2 for each specialty area. A family practitioner who includes obstetrics and gynecology in their practice shall not perform deliveries in California unless they have performed 50 live birth deliveries, as required by United States standards, confirmed by written documentation by the supervising department chair, hospital administrator, or hospital chief medical officer. Each obstetrician and gynecologist from El Salvador shall be a fellow in good standing of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. (2) Passed the committee’s an interview examination created in consultation with the community health clinic referenced in Section 2130.2 for each of the person’s specialty areas. (3) Satisfactorily completed the committee’s orientation program. an orientation program developed in consultation with the community health clinic referenced in Section 2130.2. (4) Provided written documentation to the board that they have scored at least 85 percent on the Test of English as a Foreign Language or at least 350 on the Occupational English Test. 2130.6. 2130.5. (a) Subject to subdivision (b), notwithstanding subdivisions (a) to (d), inclusive, of Section 30, the board shall issue a license to an applicant who meets the requirements of Section 2130.3 even if the applicant has not provided an individual taxpayer identification number or social security number to the board. (b) A licensee who has not provided an individual taxpayer identification number or social security number to the board shall not engage in the practice of medicine unless all of the following conditions are met: (1) The licensee sought an appropriate three-year visa and accompanying social security number from the federal government within 14 days of licensure under the program. (2) The licensee provided the board their social security number within 10 days of issuance of the number by the federal government. (3) The board notified the licensee that it has determined that the requirements of paragraphs (1) and (2) have been met. (c) The board shall promptly provide the notification described in paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) to the licensee once the board has made the determination described in that subparagraph. 2130.7. 2130.6. If a licensee is a family practitioner who includes obstetrics and gynecology in their practice, they shall not perform deliveries in California unless they have written documentation from a supervising department chair, hospital administrator, or hospital chief medical officer that they have performed 50 live birth deliveries in accordance with United States standards. Each license who practices as an obstetrician and gynecologist shall be a fellow in good standing of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. 2130.8. 2130.7. A licensee shall complete 25 continuing education units each year. The board may randomly audit a licensee to ensure compliance with this section and may issue a citation and administrative fine against a licensee who fails to comply with this section. 2130.9. 2130.8. (a) A federally qualified health center employing a licensee shall continue the peer review protocols and procedures as required by the federal government. (b) The federally qualified health centers shall work with a California medical school approved by the board pursuant to Section 2084 or a residency program approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education to conduct 10 secondary reviews of randomly selected patient encounters with each licensee per six-month period, and the reviews shall be transmitted to the approved medical school or medical institution with an approved residency program in PDF format. (c) The secondary reviews shall be undertaken every six months of each year for the three years that the licensee is employed by a federally qualified health center. (d) The faculty reviewers in family medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine, psychiatry, and obstetrics and gynecology from the California medical school approved by the board pursuant to Section 2084 or the residency program approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education shall provide feedback to the federally qualified health centers of the findings of their secondary reviews. (e) The faculty and federally qualified health center chief medical officers shall jointly develop no less than two quality assurance seminars for all licensees to attend during the six months of secondary reviews conducted. The purpose of the approved medical school or medical institution with an approved residency program secondary peer reviews shall be to provide feedback on compliance with medical standards, protocols, and procedures required by the federal government and assessed by the monthly or quarterly peer reviews conducted by federally qualified health centers. The associated costs for the secondary reviews and quality assurance seminars shall be the responsibility of the federally qualified health centers on a pro rata basis. 2130.10. 2130.9. (a) A licensee shall only practice medicine in California at a federally qualified health center and any co [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]