Board Information
| Board Member |
Term |
| Nancy Allen, LMP, Chair |
09/2008 - 09/2012 |
| Meghann Lawrence, Vice Chair |
10/2011 –9/2015 |
| Laura Williams, LMP |
10/2007 - 09/2011 |
| Robert Hutchinson, Public Member |
05/2010 - 09/2011 |
| Reynaldo Guajardo |
2/2011 – 9/2013 |
Description
The mandate of the Board of Massage 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 health care providers under their jurisdiction. The Board accomplishes this mandate through a variety of activities in collaboration with the Department of Health, Health Professions Quality Assurance.
Board duties include:
- Establishing qualifications for minimal competency to grant or deny licensure of massage therapists.
- Define, evaluate, approve, and designate those schools, programs, and apprenticeship programs including all current and proposed curriculum, faculty, and health, sanitation, and facility standards from which graduation will be accepted as proof of an applicant’s eligibility to take the licensing examination.
- Review approved schools and programs periodically.
- Determine which states have educational and licensing requirements equivalent to those of this state.
- Establish by rule the standards and procedures for approving courses of study and may contract with individuals or organizations having expertise in the profession or in education to assist in evaluation courses of study.
Qualifications
The Board is made up of four massage therapists and one public member appointed by the Governor. The professional members must have been in
the practice of massage for at least three years immediately preceding appointment. All members must be citizens of the United States and must be residents of Washington.
Public member representatives may not:
- Be a member of any other health care licensing board or commission;
- Have a fiduciary obligation to a facility rendering health care services;
- have a financial interest in the rendering of health services.
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 quarterly on a weekend for 8 hours. There is also Department of Health one-day Board, Commission, Committee conference.
- 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.
- Assist newly appointed Board members as necessary.
Total Annual Time Commitment:
| Meetings/ Conferences |
3-4 days per year |
| Meeting Preparation |
2-4 hours per meeting (approximately 1 day per year) |
Performance Guidelines-Newly Appointed Board Members
Attend an initial orientation about the Board presented by Department of Health staff. This is approximately 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), rule-making and other issues.
- Attends committee meetings if necessary.
- Performs duties of current members.
Current Meeting Schedule
Please go here for the current meeting schedule.
|
