I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3637 

To amend title VII of the Public Health Service Act to authorize assistance 

for increasing workforce diversity in the professions of physical therapy, 

occupational therapy, audiology, and speech-language pathology, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 9, 2019 

Mr. RUSH (for himself and Mrs. RODGERS of Washington) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend title VII of the Public Health Service Act to 

authorize assistance for increasing workforce diversity 

in the professions of physical therapy, occupational therapy, audiology, and speech-language pathology, 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 ‘‘Allied Health Work5 force Diversity Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INCREASING WORKFORCE DIVERSITY IN THE PRO2 FESSIONS OF PHYSICAL THERAPY, OCCUPA3 TIONAL THERAPY, AUDIOLOGY, AND SPEECH4 LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY. 

5 Title VII of the Public Health Service Act is amend6 ed— 

7 (1) by redesignating part G (42 U.S.C. 295j et 

8 seq.) as part H; and 

9 (2) by inserting after part F (42 U.S.C. 294n 

10 et seq.) the following new part: 

11 ‘‘PART G—INCREASING WORKFORCE DIVERSITY 

12 IN THE PROFESSIONS OF PHYSICAL THER13 APY, OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY, AUDIOLOGY, 

14 AND SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY 

15 ‘‘SEC. 783. SCHOLARSHIPS AND STIPENDS. 

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may award grants 

17 and contracts to eligible entities to increase educational 

18 opportunities in the professions of physical therapy, occu19 pational therapy, audiology, and speech-language pathol20 ogy for eligible individuals by— 

21 ‘‘(1) providing student scholarships or stipends, 

22 including for— 

23 ‘‘(A) completion of an accelerated degree 

24 program; 


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1 ‘‘(B) completion of an associate’s, bach2 elor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree program; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(C) entry by a diploma or associate’s de5 gree practitioner into a bridge or degree com6 pletion program; 

7 ‘‘(2) providing assistance for completion of pre8 requisite courses or other preparation necessary for 

9 acceptance for enrollment in the eligible entity; and 

10 ‘‘(3) carrying out activities to increase the re11 tention of students in one or more programs in the 

12 professions of physical therapy, occupational ther13 apy, audiology, and speech-language pathology. 

14 ‘‘(b) CONSIDERATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS.—In 

15 carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary shall take into 

16 consideration the recommendations of national organiza17 tions representing the professions of physical therapy, oc18 cupational therapy, audiology, and speech-language pa19 thology, including the American Physical Therapy Asso20 ciation, the American Occupational Therapy Association, 

21 the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, the 

22 American Academy of Audiology, and the Academy of 

23 Doctors of Audiology. 

24 ‘‘(c) REQUIRED INFORMATION AND CONDITIONS FOR

25 AWARD RECIPIENTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may require 

2 recipients of awards under this section to report to 

3 the Secretary concerning the annual admission, re4 tention, and graduation rates for eligible individuals 

5 in programs of the recipient leading to a degree in 

6 any of the professions of physical therapy, occupa7 tional therapy, audiology, and speech-language pa8 thology. 

9 ‘‘(2) FALLING RATES.—If any of the rates re10 ported by a recipient under paragraph (1) fall below 

11 the average for such recipient over the two years 

12 preceding the year covered by the report, the recipi13 ent shall provide the Secretary with plans for imme14 diately improving such rates. 

15 ‘‘(3) INELIGIBILITY.—A recipient described in 

16 paragraph (2) shall be ineligible for continued fund17 ing under this section if the plan of the recipient 

18 fails to improve the rates within the 1-year period 

19 beginning on the date such plan is implemented. 

20 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The term ‘eligible 

22 entity’ means an education program that— 

23 ‘‘(A) is accredited by— 

24 ‘‘(i) the Council on Academic Accredi25 tation in Audiology and Speech-Language 


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1 Pathology or the Accreditation Commission 

2 for Audiology Education; 

3 ‘‘(ii) the Commission on Accreditation 

4 in Physical Therapy Education; or 

5 ‘‘(iii) the Accreditation Council for 

6 Occupational Therapy Education; and 

7 ‘‘(B) is carrying out a program for recruit8 ing and retaining students underrepresented in 

9 the professions of physical therapy, occupa10 tional therapy, audiology, and speech-language 

11 pathology (including racial or ethnic minorities, 

12 or students from disadvantaged backgrounds). 

13 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘eligible 

14 individual’ means an individual who— 

15 ‘‘(A) is a member of a class of persons who 

16 are underrepresented in the professions of phys17 ical therapy, occupational therapy, audiology, 

18 and speech-language pathology (including indi19 viduals who are racial or ethnic minorities, or 

20 are from disadvantaged backgrounds); 

21 ‘‘(B) has a financial need for a scholarship 

22 or stipend; and 

23 ‘‘(C) is enrolled (or accepted for enroll24 ment) at an audiology, speech-language pathol25 ogy, physical therapy, or occupational therapy 


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1 program as a full-time student at an eligible en2 tity. 

3 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

5 $5,000,000 for the first fiscal year commencing after the 

6 date of enactment of the Allied Health Workforce Diver7 sity Act of 2019 and each of the 4 succeeding fiscal 

8 years.’’. 

Æ 


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