CHAPTER 1096 AN ACT TO PROVIDE A STATE-WIDE PROGRAM OF HOSPITAL AND MEDICAL CARE; TO CREATE THE NORTH CAROLINA MEDICAL CARE COMMISSION; TO MAKE CONTINGENT APPROPRIATIONS FOR CONTRI- BUTIONS FOR THE CARE OF INDIGENT SICK IN AP- PROVED HOSPITALS; TO MAKE SURVEYS AND REC- OMMENDATIONS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF NEC- ESSARY HOSPITALS AND HEALTH CENTERS; TO PROVIDE FOR THE EXPANSION OF THE MEDICAL SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA; TO PROVIDE FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF A CENTRAL HOSPITAL AS A MEMORIAL TO NORTH CAROLINA DEAD OF WORLD WAR I AND WORLD WAR II; AND OTHER PROVISIONS RELATING THERETO. The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:
Section 1. That Chapter one hundred and thirty-one of the General Statutes of North Carolina be, and the same hereby is, amended by adding the following articles and sections. Article 12 Sec. 131-117. North Carolina Medical Care Commission. There is hereby created a State agency to be known as The North Carolina Medical Care Commission, which shall be composed of twenty members nominated and appointed as follows: Three members shall be nominated by the Medical Society of the State of North Carolina; one member by the North Carolina Hospital Association; one member by the North Carolina Dental Society; one member by the North Carolina Nurses Association; one member by the North Carolina Pharmaceutical Association, and one member by the Duke Foundation, for appointment by the Governor. Ten members of said Commission shall be appointed by the Governor and selected so as to fairly represent agriculture, industry, labor, and other interests and groups in North Caro. lina. In appointing the members of said Commission, the Governor shall designate the term for which each member is appointed. Four of said members shall be appointed for a term of one year; four for a term of two years; four for a term oj three years; five for a term of four years; and thereafter, all appointments shall be for a ter mof four years. All vacancies shall be filled by the Governor for the unexpired term. The Commissioner of Public Welfare, and the Secretary of the State Board of Health shall be ex officio members of the Commission, without voting power. The Commission shall elect, with the approval of the Governor, a chairman and a vice chairman. All members, except the Commissioner of Public Welfare, and the Secretary of the State Board of Health shall receive a per diem of seven dollars ($7.00) and necessary travel expenses. SEC. 181-118. Commission Authorized to Employ Executive Secretary. The North Carolina Medical Care Commission is authorized and empowered to employ, subject to the approval of the Governor, an executive secretary, and to determine his or her salary under the provisions of the Personnel Act. The executive secretary may employ such additional persons as may be required to carry out the provisions of this Act, subject to approval of the Commission, and the provisions of the Personnel Act. Office space for the Commission shall be provided by the Board of Public Buildings and Grounds, in Raleigh. SEc. 131-119. Contribution for Indigent Patients. The North Carolina Medical Care Commission, in accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by it, is hereby authorized and empowered to contribute not exceeding one dollar ($1.00) per day for each indigent patient hospitalized in any hospital approved by it, provided the balance of the cost shall be provided by the county or city having responsibility for the care of such indigent patient, or from other sources. The Commission shall promulgate rules and regulations for determining the indigency of the persons hospitalized and the basis upon which hospitals and health centers shall qualify to receive the benefits of this section. For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this section, there is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the North Carolina Medical Care Commission for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, one thousand nine hundred and forty-six, the sum of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,- 000.00); and for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, one thousand nine hundred and forty-seven, the sum of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000.00), provided that the benefits of this section shall apply only to hospitals publicly owned, or owned and operated by charitable, nonprofit, nonstock corporations, and provided further that these appropriations provided in this section shall not be available until all provisions of Section twenty-three and one half of the Committee Substitute for House Bill Number eleven, the General Appropriations Bill of one thousand nine hundred and forty-five, relating to the emergency salary for the public school teachers and State employees shall have been completely and fully provided for. Sec. 131-120. Construction and Enlargement of Local Hospitals. The North Carolina Medical Care Commission is hereby authorized and empowered to begin immediate surveys of each county in the State to determine: (a) The hospital needs of the county or area; (b) The economic ability of the county or area to support adequate hospital service; (c) What assistance by the State, if any, is necessary to supplement all other available funds, to finance the construction of new hospitals and health centers, additions to existing hospitals and health centers, and necessary equipment to provide adequate hospital service for the citizens of the county or area; and to report this information, together with its recommendations, to the Governor, who shall transmit this report to the next session of the General Assembly for such legislative action as it may deem necessary to effectuate an adequate Statewide hospital program. The North Carolina Medical Care Commission is hereby authorized and empowered to act as the agency of the State of North Carolina for the purpose of setting up and administering any State-wide plan for the construction and maintenance of hospitals, public health centers and related facilities, which is now or may be required in order to comply with any Federal law and in order to receive and administer any funds which may be provided by an Act of Congress for such purpose; and the Commission, as such agency of the State of North Carolina with the advice of the State Advisory Council set up as hereinafter provided, shall have the right to promulgate such Statewide plans for the construction and maintenance of hospitals, medical centers and related facilities, or such other plans as may be found desirable and necessary in order to meet the requirements and receive the benefits of any Federal legislation with regard thereto. The said Commission shall be authorized to receive and administer any funds which may be appropriated by any Act of Congress for the construction of hospitals, medical centers and related activities or facilities, which may at any time in the future become available for such purposes; said Commission shall be further authorized to receive and administer any other Federal funds, which may be available, in the furtherance of any activity in which the Commission is authorized and empowered to engage in under the provisions of this Act establishing said Commission, and in connection therewith the Commission is authorized to adopt such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the intent and purposes of this Act; to adopt such reasonable and necessary standards with reference thereto as may be proper to fully cooperate with the Surgeon General of the United States with the approval of the Federal Advisory Council in the use of funds provided by the Federal government, and at all times make such reports and give such information to the Surgeon General of the United States as may be required. That the Governor is hereby authorized and empowered to set up and establish a State Advisory Council to the North Carolina Medical Care Commission, to consist of five members, who shall each serve for a term of four years, with the right on the part of the Governor to fill vanacies for unexpired terms, said council to include representatives of non-government organizations or groups, and of State agencies, concerned with the operation, construction, or utilization of hospitals or medical centers, or allied facilities, which Advisory Council, when set up by the Governor, shall advise with the North Carolina Medical Care Commission with respect to carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Act. That the North Carolina Medical Care Commission and the said State Advisory Council set up by the Governor as-herein authorized, shall be fully authorized and empowered to do all such acts and things as may be necessary, to authorize the State of North Carolina to receive the full benefits of any Federal laws which are or may be enacted for the construction and maintenance of hospitals, health centers or allied facilities. That none of the provisions hereof shall authorize the appropriation of any State funds for the purposes herein set forth except as the same may be specifically provided for in this Act. Sec. 131-121. Medical Student Loan Fund. The North Carolina Medical Care Commission is hereby authorized and empewered, in accordance with such rules as it may promulgate, to make loans to students who may wish to become physicians and who are accepted for enrollment in any standard four-year medical school in North Carolina, provided such student shall agree, that upon graduation and upon being licensed, to practice medicine in some rural area in North Carolina for at least four years. Rural area, for the purpose of this section, shall mean any town or village having less than two thousand five hundred -2,500 population according to the last decennial census, or area outside and around such towns or villages. Such loans shall bear such rate of interest as may be fixed by the Commission, not to exceed four per cent per annum. _ For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this sec- tion, there is hereby appropriated from the General Fund for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, one thousand nine hundred and forty-six, to the North Carolina Medical Care Commission the sum of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.00): The State Treasurer shall set up on his records an account to which shall be deposited said amount, and from which withdrawals shall be made upon vouchers made by the State Auditor upon request of the North Carolina Medical Care Commission. This appropriation shall not lapse at the end of any biennium, but shall remain available for the purposes herein stated. Sec. 131-122. Expansion of Medical School of the University of North Carolina. In order to carry forward the Statewide plan of hospital and medical care, the Board of Trustees of the University of North Carolina, by and with the approval of the Governor and the North Carolina Medical Care Commission is hereby authorized and empowered to expand the two-year Medical School of the University of North Carolina into a standard four-year medical school. The North Carolina Medical Care Commission is authorized and directed to make a complete survey of all factors involved in determining the location of the expanded medical school, giving especial attention to the advantages and disadvantages of locating said school in one of the large cities of the State, and shall render a report of their findings to the Governor and Board of Trustees of the University of North Carolina. Provided that no action shall be taken under this provision of this section, other than the work of the Commission, until a survey has been made and a report submitted to the Governor and Medical Care Commission by the Rockefeller Foundation or some other accredited agency with experience in the field of surveying large areas in connection with medical education and medical care. The report of such agency is to be submitted to the Governor and the Medical Care Commission in a reasonable time in advance of the report of the Governor and the Commission to the Board of Trustees. Sec. 131-123. Appropriations for Expenses of the North Carolina Medical Care Commission. In order to provide funds for the expenses of the North Carolina Medical Care, Commission, there is hereby appropriated from the General Fund for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, one thousand nine hundred and forty-six, the sum of fifty thousand. dollars ($50,- 000.00) and for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, one thousand nine hundred and forty-seven, the sum of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.00). SEc. 131-124. Medical Training for Negroes. The North Carolina Medical Care Commission shall make careful investigation of the methods for providing necessary medical training for Negro students, and shall report its findings to the next session of the General Assembly. In addition to the benefits provided by Section one hundred and sixteen one hundred and ten of the General Statutes of North Carolina, the North Carolina Medical Care Commission is hereby authorized to make loans to Negro medical students from the fund provided in Section one hundred and thirty-oneone hundred and twenty-one, subject to such rules, regulations, and conditions as the Commission may prescribe. Sec. 131-125. Acceptance of Gifts, Grants and Donations. The North Carolina Medical Care Commission is hereby authorized and empowered to accept and administer gifts, grants, or donations which may be made by the Federal government or by any person, firm, or corporation for the purpose of carrying out the objects of this Act, provided the acceptance of such gifts, grants, or donations shall be made without requiring the surrender of authority or control in the administration thereof by the North Carolina Medical Care Commission. SEc. 131-126. Hospital Care Association. The North Carolina Medical Care Commission is hereby authorized to encourage the development of group insurance plans, the Blue Cross Plan, and other plans which provide for insurance for the public against the costs of disease and illness.