---
type: "Bill"
title: "Hospitals and Health Care Facilities - As enacted, extends to a rural health clinic the same authorization that a federally qualified health center has to employ a physician if the employment relationship is evidenced by a written contract, job description, or documentation containing language that does not restrict the physician from exercising independent medical judgment in diagnosing and treating patients. - Amends TCA Title 63, Chapter 6."
description: "Hospitals and Health Care Facilities - As enacted, extends to a rural health clinic the same authorization that a federally qualified health center has to employ a physician if the employment relationship is evidenced by a written contract, job description, or documentation containing language that does not restrict the physician from exercising independent medical judgment in diagnosing and treating patients. - Amends TCA Title 63, Chapter 6."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "111"
identifier: "SB 1955"
citation: "Tennessee SB 1955 (111)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Hospitals and Health Care Facilities"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Faison", "Jackson"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 30
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2020-01-29"
last_action: "2020-03-26"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/021f0179-6f0e-40f1-918f-314155fb90ba"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB1955&GA=111"
source_hash: "cd1f1dde563201c85b74f93c8d55eed63bee668eaee4c9f8e0667cc499ce1c4b"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-tn"]
---

# Tennessee SB 1955 (111) — Hospitals and Health Care Facilities - As enacted, extends to a rural health clinic the same authorization that a federally qualified health center has to employ a physician if the employment relationship is evidenced by a written contract, job description, or documentation containing language that does not restrict the physician from exercising independent medical judgment in diagnosing and treating patients. - Amends TCA Title 63, Chapter 6.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/111/Bill/SB1955.pdf)

## Votes

- SENATE HEALTH AND WELFARE COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee 2/12/2020 Passed (2) — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE HEALTH COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee 2/25/2020 (2) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: Motion to Adopt 2/20/2020 Passed (1) — **33–0** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 3/5/2020 Passed (1) — **89–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE FACILITIES, LICENSURE, & REGULATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Health Committee 2/18/2020 — **0–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Faison — primary (person)
- Jackson — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-01-29** Filed for introduction `reading-1, introduction`
- **2020-01-30** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2020-01-30** Filed for introduction `reading-1, introduction`
- **2020-02-03** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Health and Welfare Committee
- **2020-02-03** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2020-02-05** Placed on Senate Health and Welfare Committee calendar for 2/12/2020
- **2020-02-05** Assigned to s/c Facilities, Licensure, & Regulations Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-05** P2C, ref. to Health Committee `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-12** Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee
- **2020-02-12** Placed on s/c cal Facilities, Licensure, & Regulations Subcommittee for 2/18/2020
- **2020-02-18** Placed on Senate Consent Calendar 2 for 2/20/2020
- **2020-02-18** Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Health Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2020-02-19** Placed on cal. Health Committee for 2/25/2020
- **2020-02-20** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House
- **2020-02-20** Passed Senate, Ayes 33, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2020-02-24** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2020-02-25** Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2020-02-26** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 2/27/2020
- **2020-02-27** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/5/2020
- **2020-03-05** Passed H., Ayes 89, Nays 0, PNV 1 `passage`
- **2020-03-05** Subst. for comp. HB.
- **2020-03-05** Comp. SB subst.
- **2020-03-09** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2020-03-09** Enrolled and ready for signatures
- **2020-03-10** Transmitted to Governor for action.
- **2020-03-10** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2020-03-19** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2020-03-26** Pub. Ch. 574
- **2020-03-26** Effective date(s) 03/19/2020
- **2020-03-26** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 574

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/021f0179-6f0e-40f1-918f-314155fb90ba`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).