I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7307 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a grant program to 

expand the number of allied health professionals in underserved communities and rural areas, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 9, 2024 

Mr. MOLINARO (for himself and Ms. CRAIG) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a grant 

program to expand the number of allied health professionals in underserved communities and rural areas, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Health Care Workforce 

5 Innovation Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. HEALTH CARE WORKFORCE INNOVATION PRO2 GRAM. 

3 Subpart 3 of part E of title VII of the Public Health 

4 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295f et seq.) is amended by adding 

5 at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 779. HEALTH CARE WORKFORCE INNOVATION PRO7 GRAM. 

8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 ‘‘(1) ALLIED HEALTH PROFESSIONALS.—The 

10 term ‘allied health professionals’— 

11 ‘‘(A) has the meaning given the term in 

12 section 799B; and 

13 ‘‘(B) includes— 

14 ‘‘(i) an individual who provides clinical 

15 support services, such as a medical assist16 ant, dental assistant, dental hygienist, 

17 pharmacy technician, physical therapist, or 

18 health care interpreter; 

19 ‘‘(ii) an individual who provides non20 clinical support services, such as a billing 

21 and coding professional or a health infor22 mation technology professional; 

23 ‘‘(iii) a dietician; 

24 ‘‘(iv) a medical technologist; 

25 ‘‘(v) an emergency medical technician; 

26 ‘‘(vi) a community health worker; 


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1 ‘‘(vii) a public health worker; and 

2 ‘‘(viii) a peer support worker. 

3 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM.—The term ‘Program’ means 

4 the Health Care Workforce Innovation Program es5 tablished under subsection (b). 

6 ‘‘(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

7 the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of 

8 the Health Resources and Services Administration. 

9 ‘‘(4) UNDERSERVED COMMUNITY.—The term 

10 ‘underserved community’ means— 

11 ‘‘(A) a health professional shortage area 

12 (as defined in section 332(a)); 

13 ‘‘(B) a medically underserved community 

14 (as defined in section 799B); and 

15 ‘‘(C) a medically underserved population 

16 (as defined in section 330(b)). 

17 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab18 lish a grant program, to be known as the ‘Health Care 

19 Workforce Innovation Program’, under which the Sec20 retary shall award grants to eligible entities to support 

21 and develop new innovative, community-driven approaches 

22 for the education and training of allied health profes23 sionals, with an emphasis on expanding the supply of al24 lied health professionals located in, and meeting the needs 

25 of, underserved communities and rural areas. 


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1 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

2 under the Program, an entity shall be— 

3 ‘‘(1) a Federally-qualified health center (as de4 fined in section 1905(l)(2)(B) of the Social Security 

5 Act); 

6 ‘‘(2) an entity that represents, or is comprised 

7 of, Federally-qualified health centers; or 

8 ‘‘(3) a rural health clinic that meets the re9 quirements of an entity to which a Corps member is 

10 assigned under section 334. 

11 ‘‘(d) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible entity seeking a 

12 grant under the Program shall submit to the Secretary 

13 an application at such time, in such manner, and con14 taining such information as the Secretary may require, in15 cluding— 

16 ‘‘(1) a description of how allied health profes17 sionals will be trained in accredited training pro18 grams either directly or through partnerships with 

19 public or nonprofit private entities, to the extent ap20 plicable; 

21 ‘‘(2) a description of the community-driven 

22 health care workforce innovation model to be carried 

23 out under the grant, including the specific allied 

24 health professions to be funded; 


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1 ‘‘(3) the geographic service area that will be 

2 served, including quantitative data, if available, 

3 showing that such area faces a shortage of allied 

4 health professionals and lacks access to health care; 

5 ‘‘(4) a description of the benefits provided to 

6 each allied health professional trained under the pro7 posed model during the education and training 

8 phase; 

9 ‘‘(5) a description of the experience that the eli10 gible entity has in the recruitment, retention, and 

11 promotion of the well-being of workers and patients; 

12 ‘‘(6) a description of how the funding awarded 

13 under the Program will supplement, and not sup14 plant, existing funding that supports the health care 

15 workforce of the eligible entity; 

16 ‘‘(7) a description of the scalability and 

17 replicability of the community-driven approach to be 

18 funded under the grant; and 

19 ‘‘(8) a description of the infrastructure, out20 reach, and communication plan and other program 

21 support costs required to operationalize the proposed 

22 model. 

23 ‘‘(e) USE OF FUNDS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A grantee shall use 

25 amounts received under a grant awarded under the 


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1 Program to carry out the community-driven health 

2 care workforce innovation model described in the ap3 plication of the grantee under subsection (d)(2), 

4 which shall be carried out for a period of not less 

5 than 3 years. 

6 ‘‘(2) SPECIFIC USES.—In carrying out the com7 munity-driven health care workforce innovation 

8 model under paragraph (1), a grantee may use grant 

9 amounts for the following specific uses: 

10 ‘‘(A) Launching new or expanding existing 

11 innovative health care professional partnerships. 

12 ‘‘(B) Establishing or expanding a partner13 ship between an eligible entity and 1 or more 

14 high schools (as defined in section 8101 of the 

15 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

16 1965), accredited public or nonprofit private vo17 cational-technical schools, accredited public or 

18 nonprofit private 2-year colleges, area health 

19 education centers, and entities with clinical set20 tings for the provision of education and training 

21 opportunities not available at the facilities of 

22 such grantee. 

23 ‘‘(C) Providing education and training pro24 grams to improve the readiness of allied health 


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1 professionals in settings that serve underserved 

2 communities and rural areas. 

3 ‘‘(D) Encouraging students from under4 served communities and disadvantaged back5 grounds and former patients to consider careers 

6 in health care, better reflecting and meeting 

7 community needs. 

8 ‘‘(E) Providing education and training pro9 grams for individuals to work in patient-cen10 tered, team-based, community-driven health 

11 care models that include integration with other 

12 clinical practitioners and training in cultural 

13 and linguistic competence. 

14 ‘‘(F) Providing pre-apprenticeship and ap15 prenticeship programs for health care technical, 

16 support, and entry-level occupations, particu17 larly for individuals enrolled in dual or concur18 rent enrollment programs. 

19 ‘‘(G) Building a preceptorship training-to20 practice model for medical, behavioral health, 

21 oral health care, and public health disciplines in 

22 an integrated, community-driven setting. 

23 ‘‘(H) Providing and expanding internships, 

24 career ladders, and development opportunities 


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1 for health care professionals, including new and 

2 existing staff. 

3 ‘‘(I) Investing in training equipment, sup4 plies, and limited renovations or retrofitting of 

5 training space needed for grantees to carry out 

6 the community-driven health care workforce in7 novation model under paragraph (1). 

8 ‘‘(3) LIMITATIONS.—Amounts received under a 

9 grant awarded under the Program may not be 

10 used— 

11 ‘‘(A) to support construction costs (other 

12 than the limited renovations and retrofits de13 scribed in paragraph (1)(I)); or 

14 ‘‘(B) to supplant funding from existing 

15 programs that support the health care work16 force of the grantee. 

17 ‘‘(f) PRIORITIES.—In awarding grants under the Pro18 gram, the Secretary shall give priority to applicants that 

19 will use grant funds— 

20 ‘‘(1) to support a community-driven health care 

21 workforce innovation model that increases the num22 ber of individuals from underserved communities 

23 and disadvantaged backgrounds working in allied 

24 health professions; 


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1 ‘‘(2) to improve access to health care, including 

2 medical care, behavioral health care, and oral health 

3 care, in underserved communities; or 

4 ‘‘(3) to demonstrate that the community-driven 

5 health care workforce innovation model to be carried 

6 out using such grant funds can be replicated in 

7 other underserved communities in a cost-efficient 

8 and effective manner. 

9 ‘‘(g) GRANT AMOUNT AND PERIOD.—A grant award10 ed under the Program— 

11 ‘‘(1) shall not exceed $2,500,000; and 

12 ‘‘(2) shall be for a period of not less than 3 

13 years. 

14 ‘‘(h) REPORTS.—Each entity that receives a grant 

15 under the Program shall submit to the Secretary periodic 

16 reports at such time, in such manner, and containing such 

17 information as the Secretary may require, including a de18 tailed description of the findings and outcomes of the com19 munity-driven health care workforce innovation model car20 ried out under the grant. 

21 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

22 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

23 $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029, 

24 to remain available until expended.’’. 

Æ 


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