| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the establishment of a rural resident physician grant |
|
|
program. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Chapter 58A, Education Code, is amended by |
|
|
adding Subchapter E to read as follows: |
|
|
SUBCHAPTER E. RURAL RESIDENT PHYSICIAN GRANT PROGRAM |
|
|
Sec. 58A.081. RURAL RESIDENT PHYSICIAN GRANT PROGRAM. (a) |
|
|
The board shall administer the Rural Resident Physician Grant |
|
|
Program as a competitive grant program to encourage the creation of |
|
|
new graduate medical education positions in rural and |
|
|
nonmetropolitan areas, with particular emphasis on the creation of |
|
|
rural training tracks. The board shall award grants to new or |
|
|
expanded physician residency programs at teaching hospitals and |
|
|
other appropriate health care entities according to the program |
|
|
criteria established under this section. |
|
|
(b) The board shall establish criteria for the grant program |
|
|
in consultation with one or more physicians, including a physician |
|
|
who practices in a rural area of this state, teaching hospitals, |
|
|
medical schools, and independent physician residency programs, and |
|
|
with other persons considered appropriate by the board. The |
|
|
program criteria must take into account whether a rural or |
|
|
nonmetropolitan area has the resources sufficient to support a |
|
|
physician residency program in a manner that would satisfy |
|
|
applicable residency program accreditation requirements. |
|
|
(c) The board may provide grants only to support a physician |
|
|
residency program: |
|
|
(1) that provides the level of medical care that is |
|
|
most needed in a rural or nonmetropolitan area; and |
|
|
(2) until the program becomes eligible for federal |
|
|
grant funding. |
|
|
(d) Grant funds awarded under this section may be used only |
|
|
to pay direct costs associated with creating or maintaining a |
|
|
residency position, including the salary of the resident physician. |
|
|
(e) Each grant application must: |
|
|
(1) specify the number of residency positions expected |
|
|
to be created or maintained with the grant money; |
|
|
(2) specify the grant amount requested for each year; |
|
|
(3) include documentation of infrastructure and |
|
|
staffing to satisfy applicable residency program accreditation |
|
|
requirements; |
|
|
(4) include documentation that the residency program |
|
|
will set a primary goal of producing physicians who are prepared for |
|
|
practice in a rural area; and |
|
|
(5) include evidence of support for residency training |
|
|
by sponsoring institutions and the community. |
|
|
(f) The board shall award grants for all residency positions |
|
|
awarded a grant under this section in the preceding year before |
|
|
awarding a grant for a residency position that did not receive a |
|
|
grant in the preceding year, provided that the applicable grant |
|
|
recipient from the preceding year complies with all conditions of |
|
|
the grant as described by Subsection (g) and satisfies the grant |
|
|
eligibility requirements. |
|
|
(g) The board shall monitor physician residency programs |
|
|
receiving grants as necessary to ensure compliance with the grant |
|
|
program and shall require the return of any unused grant money by, |
|
|
or shall decline to award additional grants to, a residency program |
|
|
that receives a grant but fails to: |
|
|
(1) create and fill, within a reasonable period, the |
|
|
number of residency positions proposed in the program's grant |
|
|
application; or |
|
|
(2) satisfy any other conditions of the grant imposed |
|
|
by the board. |
|
|
(h) The board shall use money forfeited under Subsection (g) |
|
|
to award grants to other eligible applicants. With respect to the |
|
|
physician residency program forfeiting the grant, the board may |
|
|
restore grant money or award additional grants, as applicable, to |
|
|
the program as soon as practicable after the program satisfies all |
|
|
conditions of the grant. |
|
|
(i) The board shall adopt rules for the administration of |
|
|
the grant program. The rules must include: |
|
|
(1) administrative provisions governing: |
|
|
(A) eligibility criteria for grant applicants; |
|
|
(B) grant application procedures; |
|
|
(C) guidelines relating to grant amounts; |
|
|
(D) guidelines relating to the number of grants |
|
|
to be awarded each year, subject to available funds; |
|
|
(E) procedures for evaluating grant |
|
|
applications; |
|
|
(F) procedures for monitoring the use of grants; |
|
|
and |
|
|
(G) reporting requirements for grant recipients; |
|
|
(2) methods for tracking the effectiveness of grants; |
|
|
and |
|
|
(3) any conditions relating to the receipt and use of a |
|
|
grant as considered appropriate by the board. |
|
|
SECTION 2. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective |
|
|
date of this Act, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board |
|
|
shall adopt rules for the implementation and administration of the |
|
|
grant program established under Subchapter E, Chapter 58A, |
|
|
Education Code, as added by this Act. The board may adopt the |
|
|
initial rules in the manner provided by law for emergency rules. |
|
|
(b) Not later than October 1, 2017, the Texas Higher |
|
|
Education Coordinating Board shall establish the grant program |
|
|
required by Subchapter E, Chapter 58A, Education Code, as added by |
|
|
this Act, and shall begin to award grants under that program not |
|
|
later than January 1, 2018. |
|
|
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
|
|
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
|
|
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
|
|
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
|
|
Act takes effect September 1, 2017. |