H. B. 2573
(By Delegates Douglas, Kuhn, Butcher,
Hatfield, Manchin, Prunty and Leggett )
(Originating in the Committee on Government Organization)
[Introduced February 27, 2001]
A BILL to amend and reenact section six, article sixteen, chapter
eighteen-b of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to further amend said
article by adding thereto a new section, designated section
six-b, relating to continuing the rural health advisory panel.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section six, article sixteen, chapter eighteen-b of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted; and that said article be further
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section six-b,
all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 16. HEALTH CARE EDUCATION.
§18B-16-6. Creation of the West Virginia rural health advisory panel.
(a) The West Virginia rural health advisory panel is hereby
created and the rural health initiative advisory panel is hereby
terminated as of the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-five. The advisory panel, which shall be appointed by the
governor after consulting with the vice chancellor, shall consist
of one community representative from each of the consortia of
primary health care education sites; five members shall be rural
health care providers, two of whom shall be representatives of
rural health care facilities selected from such lists as may be
submitted by associations interested or involved in the provision
of rural health care, two of whom shall be physicians engaged in
the private practice of rural medicine, and one of whom shall be an
advanced nurse practitioner or a nurse midwife with experience in
rural health care delivery; the dean or designee from each of
the participating health sciences schools, ex officio; one
representative from private colleges; one representative from the
state college system; one site coordinator; the commissioner of
public health, ex officio; and the director of the office of
community and rural health services, ex officio. Except for the ex
officio members, members of the panel shall serve for staggered
three-year terms: Provided, That one third of the initial appointments shall be designated by the governor for one-year terms
and one third of the initial appointments shall be designated by
the governor for two-year terms.
Members of the advisory panel shall be reimbursed for the cost
of reasonable and necessary expenses actually incurred in the
performance of their duties: Provided, That members of the panel
who are employed by the state of West Virginia shall not be
reimbursed for their expenses under the provisions of this section.
(b) The functions and duties of the panel are to recommend
policies and procedures to the vice chancellor related to the rural
health initiative and to oversee and coordinate implementation of
those policies and procedures.
(c) Pursuant to the provisions of article ten, chapter four of
this code, the West Virginia rural health advisory panel shall
continue to exist until the first day of July, two thousand one, to
allow for the completion of a preliminary performance review by the
joint committee on government operations.
(d)(c) The advisory panel has the power and the duty to
recommend rural health care facilities to be established as primary
health care education sites. Such recommendation shall be made to
the vice chancellor in accordance with the criteria set forth in
section seven of this article. After review of the proposals submitted to the vice chancellor by the schools of medicine
pursuant to section eight of this article, the panel's
recommendation shall include an estimation of the costs to be
allocated per site from available funds in the university of West
Virginia health sciences account in the line item designated for
rural health initiative site support.
(e)(d) The advisory panel shall adopt guidelines regarding the
application by rural health care facilities for selection as
primary health care education sites and shall approve an
application form which provides the panel with sufficient
information to consider the criteria set forth in section eight of
this article. The guidelines and application shall be sent by
registered mail to each rural health care facility in the state as
soon as practicable after the effective date of this section.
(f)(e) The advisory panel shall provide an ongoing evaluation
of the rural health initiative and shall make the reports required
under this article.
(g)(f) For purposes of addressing primary care physician and
other health care provider recruitment and retention efforts, there
is hereby created within the rural health advisory panel a
committee on recruitment and retention, which shall include member
representatives of health care providers, consumers, members of the advisory panel and the health sciences schools. All member
representatives shall be selected by the vice chancellor for health
sciences in conjunction with the director of the office of
community and rural health. All operational costs of the
recruitment and retention committee shall be paid by the rural
health advisory panel.
(1) The recruitment and retention committee and the vice
chancellor of health sciences, in conjunction with the director of
the office of community and rural health services, may facilitate
statewide and interagency coordination of the recruitment and
retention of primary care physicians and other health care related
providers to serve the state of West Virginia.
(2) Such responsibility for and coordination of primary care
physician recruitment and retention efforts shall include, but are
not limited to, working cooperatively with health care agencies and
economic development agencies of the state.
(3) As part of its duties, the recruitment and retention
committee shall provide by the thirty-first day of December, one
thousand nine hundred ninety-eight, and no less than annually
thereafter, a report of its findings to the legislative oversight
commission on education accountability and the legislative
oversight commission on health and human resources accountability. The report shall address the success of the state's primary care
physician and other health care related provider recruitment and
retention efforts, recommendations for improvements in all related
areas of recruitment and retention efforts, recommendations for
statutory or regulatory changes, as well as any other matters which
the recruitment and retention committee or the rural health
advisory panel deems relevant to carrying out the intent of this
article.
§18B-16-6b. Termination of advisory panel.
The rural health advisory panel shall terminate on the first
day of July, two thousand four, pursuant to the provisions of
article ten, chapter four of this code, unless sooner terminated,
continued or reestablished pursuant to the provisions of that
article.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
Section six-b is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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