Section 124710 Of Article 3. Health Services And Development Projects From California Health And Safety Code >> Division 106. >> Part 4. >> Chapter 5. >> Article 3.
124710
. (a) (1) It is the intent of the Legislature that funds
distributed under this section promote stability for participating
clinics, as a part of the state's health care safety net, and at the
same time be distributed in a manner that best promotes access to
health care to geographically isolated populations.
(2) The department shall grant funds, for a minimum of three years
per grant, retroactive to funds appropriated in the Budget Act of
2002 (Chapter 379 of the Statutes of 2002), to eligible, private,
nonprofit, community-based primary care clinics for the purpose of
establishing and maintaining rural health services and development
projects as specified under this article. The department may continue
to pay any grantee whose grant expired on June 30, 2003, until June
30, 2004, as if the grant had been extended, provided that funds are
appropriated for this purpose in the Budget Act of 2003 and the
grantee agrees in writing to expend the money as if the grant had
been extended.
(b) In order to be eligible to receive funds under this program, a
clinic shall, at a minimum, meet all of the following conditions:
(1) The clinic shall be licensed under paragraph (1) or (2) of
subdivision (a) of Section 1204.
(2) The clinic shall operate in a "rural" Medical Study Service
Area, as defined by the Health Manpower Commission.
(3) The clinic shall operate in a medically underserved area,
including a Health Professional Shortage Area, or serve a medically
underserved population, as designated by the United States Department
of Health and Human Services, or shall be able to demonstrate that
at least 50 percent of its patients are persons with incomes at or
below 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
(c) The department shall seek input from stakeholders in designing
the methodology for distribution of funds under this section.
(d) If the funds that are available for purposes of this section
for any fiscal year are greater than funds that were available for
the prior fiscal year, the department shall establish a base funding
level that is applicable to all sites funded in the prior fiscal
year. To the extent that funds are available, the base funding level
shall not be less than seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) for
each site. To implement this section, the department shall not be
required to reduce funding for clinics that are above the minimum
awards.