Iowa § 135B.20 - 135B.20 Definitions.

§ 135B.20. 135B.20 Definitions.

As used in this subchapter, unless the context otherwise requires: 1. “Doctor” shall mean any person licensed to practice medicine and surgery or osteopathic medicine and surgery in this state. 2. “Employees” as used in section 135B.24, and “employment” as used in section 135B.25, shall include and pertain to members of the religious order operating the hospital even though the relationship of employer and employee does not exist between such members and the hospital. 3. “Hospital” means all hospitals and rural emergency hospitals licensed under this chapter. 4. “Joint conference committee” shall mean the joint conference committee as required by the joint commission or, in a hospital having no such committee, a similar committee, an equal number of which shall be members of the medical staff selected by the staff and an equal number of which shall be selected by the governing board of the hospital. 5. “Technician” shall mean technologist as well. [C58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §135B.20] 98 Acts, ch 1100, §16; 2008 Acts, ch 1088, §141; 2009 Acts, ch 133, §35; 2017 Acts, ch 54, §76; 2018 Acts, ch 1026, §47; 2023 Acts, ch 16, §16, 20, 21; 2025 Acts, ch 86, §51 2023 amendment applies to a facility or, due to change in ownership, a successor facility that was, on or before December 27, 2020, a general hospital with no more than fifty licensed beds, located in a county in a rural area as specified in section 135B.3A with a specified population, and operating on and prior to a specified date under a valid certificate of need; 2023 Acts, ch 16, §20 Subsection 4 amended Wed Dec 10 22:52:52 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Section 135B.20 (35, 3)