Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says he has fired three members of the state's nursing board, which investigates complaints against healthcare providers.

The firings came after the Los Angeles Times and the nonprofit news organization ProPublica ran an investigative story finding it took the board an average of nearly 3 1/2 years to investigate complaints filed against nurses, the Times reported Tuesday.

Schwarzenegger said in a written statement, "It is absolutely unacceptable that it takes years to investigate such outrageous allegations of misconduct against licensed health professionals whom the public rely on for their health and well-being."

The Times-ProPublica probe found that nurses accused of wrongdoing remained free to practice, sometimes with clean records, and were allowed to move from hospital to hospital since potential employers were unaware of the accusations of incompetence and violence, as well as criminal convictions, drug theft or abuse, the Times said.

A fourth member of the six-member nursing board resigned, and two spots were vacant, allowing Schwarzenegger to appoint a full slate of six new board members, the newspaper said.