“A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a health care workforce innovation program.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section establishes the Health Care Workforce Innovation Program as a new grant activity under the allied health professions program (42 U.S.C. 294e(b)), which authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants or contracts to entities to expand training in allied health professions (i.e., clinical support roles such as medical assistants and dental assistants) addressing workforce shortages in underserved and rural communities. Eligible applicants are limited to Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), state-level associations or consortia of FQHCs, certified rural health clinics, or accredited nonprofit post-secondary vocational programs training allied health professionals for primary care settings; applications must describe accredited training arrangements, the proposed community-driven model and targeted professions, shortage data for the service area, trainee benefits, applicant experience in recruitment and retention, supplementation of existing funds, scalability, infrastructure needs, and other elements as required by the Secretary. Grant funds support launching or expanding partnerships with high schools, vocational-technical schools, community colleges, area health education centers, and clinical sites; allied health training for underserved settings; recruitment from disadvantaged backgrounds; apprenticeships and preceptorships; internships and career ladders; and equipment, supplies, or limited renovations, with models lasting at least three years and prohibiting construction costs or supplanting of existing funding. The Secretary must prioritize applicants serving underserved and disadvantaged individuals, improving access to medical, behavioral, oral, and public health services, or demonstrating cost-efficient replicability; recipients must submit periodic outcome reports as specified by the Secretary.