Article 1. Health Professions Education Foundation of California Health And Safety Code >> Division 107. >> Part 3. >> Chapter 5. >> Article 1.

As used in this article:
  (a) "Board" means the Board of Trustees of the Health Professions Education Foundation.
  (b) "Commission" means the California Healthcare Workforce Policy Commission.
  (c) "Director" means the Director of the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.
  (d) "Foundation" means the Health Professions Education Foundation.
  (e) "Health professions" or "health professionals" means physicians and surgeons licensed pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 2000) of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code or pursuant to the Osteopathic Act, dentists, registered nurses, and other health professionals determined by the office to be needed in medically underserved areas.
  (f) "Office" means the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.
  (g) "Underrepresented groups" means African-Americans, Native Americans, Hispanic-Americans, or other persons underrepresented in medicine, dentistry, nursing, or other health professions as determined by the board. After January 1, 1990, the board, upon a finding that the action is necessary to meet the health care needs of medically underserved areas, may add a group comprising the economically disadvantaged to those groups authorized to receive assistance under this article.

(a) The office shall establish a nonprofit public benefit corporation, to be known as the Health Professions Education Foundation, that shall be governed by a board consisting of nine members appointed by the Governor, one member appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly, and one member appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules. The members of the foundation board appointed by the Governor, Speaker of the Assembly, and Senate Committee on Rules may include representatives of minority groups which are underrepresented in the health professions, persons employed as health professionals, and other appropriate members of health or related professions. All persons considered for appointment shall have an interest in health programs, an interest in health educational opportunities for underrepresented groups, and the ability and desire to solicit funds for the purposes of this article as determined by the appointing power. The chairperson of the commission shall also be a nonvoting, ex officio member of the board.
  (b) The Governor shall appoint the president of the board of trustees from among those members appointed by the Governor, the Speaker of the Assembly, and the Senate Committee on Rules.
  (c) The director, after consultation with the president of the board, may appoint a council of advisers comprised of up to nine members. The council shall advise the director and the board on technical matters and programmatic issues related to the Health Professions Education Foundation Program.
  (d) Members of the board and members of the council shall serve without compensation but shall be reimbursed for any actual and necessary expenses incurred in connection with their duties as members of the board or the council.
  (e) The foundation shall be subject to the Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law (Part 2 (commencing with Section 5110) of Division 2 of Title 2 of the Corporations Code), except that if there is a conflict with this article and the Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law (Part 2 (commencing with Section 5110) of Division 2 of Title 2 of the Corporations Code), this article shall prevail.
  (f) This section shall become operative January 1, 2016.

(a) Of the members of the board first appointed by the Governor pursuant to Section 128335, three members shall be appointed to serve a two-year term, three members shall be appointed to serve a three-year term, and three members shall be appointed to serve a four-year term.
  (b) Of the members of the board first appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly and the Senate Committee on Rules pursuant to Section 128335, each member shall be appointed to serve a four-year term.
  (c) Upon the expiration of the initial appointments for the board, each member shall be appointed to serve a four-year term.

The Health Professions Education Foundation may do any of the following:
  (a) Solicit and receive funds from business, industry, foundations, and other private or public sources for the purpose of providing financial assistance in the form of scholarships or loans to African-American students, Native American students, Hispanic-American students, and other students from underrepresented groups. These funds shall be expended by the office after transfer to the Health Professions Education Fund, created pursuant to Section 128355.
  (b) Recommend to the director the disbursement of private sector moneys deposited in the Health Professions Education Fund to students from underrepresented groups accepted to or enrolled in schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing, or other health professions in the form of loans or scholarships.
  (c) Recommend to the director a standard contractual agreement to be signed by the director and any participating student, that would require a period of obligated professional service in the areas in California designated by the commission as deficient in primary care services. The agreement shall include a clause entitling the state to recover the funds awarded plus the maximum allowable interest for failure to begin or complete the service obligation.
  (d) Develop criteria for evaluating the likelihood that applicants for scholarships or loans would remain to practice their profession in designated areas deficient in primary care services.
  (e) Develop application forms, which shall be disseminated to students from underrepresented groups interested in applying for scholarships or loans.
  (f) Encourage private sector institutions, including hospitals, community clinics, and other health agencies to identify and provide educational experiences to students from underrepresented groups who are potential applicants to schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing, or other health professions.
  (g) Prepare and submit an annual report to the office documenting the amount of money solicited from the private sector, the number of scholarships and loans awarded, the enrollment levels of students from underrepresented groups in schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing, and other health professions, and the projected need for scholarships and loans in the future.
  (h) Recommend to the director that a portion of the funds solicited from the private sector be used for the administrative requirements of the foundation.
  (i) Implement the Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program and the Volunteer Physician Program, as provided under Article 5 (commencing with Section 128550).

The office shall do all of the following:
  (a) Provide technical and staff support to the foundation in meeting all of its responsibilities.
  (b) Provide financial management for the Health Professions Education Fund.
  (c) Enter into contractual agreements with students from underrepresented groups for the disbursement of scholarships or loans in return for the commitment of these students to practice their profession in an area in California designated as deficient in primary care services.
  (d) Disseminate information regarding the areas in the state that are deficient in primary care services to potential applicants for the scholarships or loans.
  (e) Monitor the practice locations of the recipients of the scholarships or loans.
  (f) Recover funds, in accordance with the terms of the contractual agreements, from recipients of scholarships or loans who fail to begin or complete their obligated service. Funds so recovered shall be redeposited in the Health Professions Education Fund.
  (g) Contract with the institutions that train family practice residents, in order to increase the participation of students from underrepresented groups in entering the specialty of family practice. The director may seek the recommendations of the commission or foundation as to what programs best demonstrate the ability to meet this objective.
  (h) Contract with training institutions that are involved in osteopathic postgraduate training in general or family practice medicine, in order to increase the participation of students from underrepresented groups participating in the practice of osteopathic medicine. The director may seek the recommendations of the commission or foundation as to what programs have demonstrated the ability to meet this objective.
  (i) Enter into contractual agreements with graduated health professionals to repay some or all of the debts they incurred in health professional schools in return for practicing their professions in an area in California designated as deficient in primary care services.
  (j) Contract with institutions that award baccalaureate of science degrees in nursing in order to increase the participation of students from underrepresented groups in the nursing profession. The director may seek the recommendations of the commission as to what programs have demonstrated the ability to meet this objective.

There is hereby created within the office a Health Professions Education Fund. The primary purpose of this fund is to provide scholarships and loans to students from underrepresented groups who are accepted to or enrolled in schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing, or other health professions, and to fund the Geriatric Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Nurse Specialist Scholarship Program pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 128425). The fund shall also be used to pay for the cost of administering the program and for any other purpose authorized by this article. The level of expenditure by the office for the administrative support of the program created pursuant to this article shall be subject to review and approval annually through the State Budget process. The office may receive private donations to be deposited into this fund. All money in the fund is continuously appropriated to the office for the purposes of this article and Article 3 (commencing with Section 128425). The office shall manage this fund prudently in accordance with other provisions of law.

Any regulations the office adopts to implement this article shall be adopted as emergency regulations in accordance with Section 11346.1 of the Government Code, except that the regulations shall be exempt from the requirements of subdivisions (e), (f), and (g) of that section. The regulations shall be deemed to be emergency regulations for the purposes of Section 11346.1 of the Government Code.

Notwithstanding any other provision, meetings of the board need not be open to the public when the board discusses applications for financial assistance under this article, or other matters that the board and the office reasonably determine should not be discussed in public due to privacy considerations.

Notwithstanding any other law, the office may exempt from public disclosure any document in the possession of the office that pertains to a donation made pursuant to this article if the donor has requested anonymity.