420. Boards of visitors; appointment. 1. (a) Subject to the provisions of this chapter, each hospital in the department shall continue to have a board of seven visitors, to be appointed by the governor by and with the advice and consent of the senate; provided however that in the case of the state institute for the study of malignant diseases one of the seven members of the board of visitors shall be the commissioner, ex-officio.
(b) At least two members of the board of visitors of the Helen Hayes hospital shall be duly licensed physicians and at least two members shall be women. This provision shall not affect the offices of the present members; but appointments hereafter shall be so made as to comply herewith as soon as practicable.
(c) At least two of the members of the board of visitors of the state institute for the study of malignant diseases shall be residents of the city of Buffalo or vicinity and one member of the board of visitors shall be a member of the medical faculty or of the council of the University of Buffalo.
2. (a) The terms of office of the members of the boards of visitors, other than the members of the board of visitors of the state institute for the study of malignant diseases, shall be seven years, and they shall be so appointed that the term of at least one of the members of the board of visitors shall expire on the thirty-first day of December of each year.
(b) The terms of office of the members of the board of visitors of the state institute for the study of malignant diseases shall be five years and they shall be so appointed that the term of at least one of the members shall expire on the thirty-first of December of each year.
3. All vacancies on the several boards of visitors of hospitals in the department shall be filled by the governor in the same manner as original appointments, and the person appointed to fill a vacancy in the board of visitors of a hospital in the department shall hold office for the remainder of the term of the person whom he succeeds.
4. The governor may remove any member or members of a board of visitors for cause after an opportunity to be heard.
5. This section shall not affect the terms of the present members of such board.
6. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of this section or any other provision of law to the contrary, upon the transfer to the Roswell Park Cancer Institute corporation of the operations of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, the board of visitors of Roswell Park Cancer Institute shall cease to operate and the terms of the current members of the board of visitors shall terminate. In the event that the operations of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute revert to the department of health, the board of visitors shall be reconstituted and the governor shall make new appointments pursuant to this section.
Last modified: February 3, 2019