I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2620 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish various programs for 

the recruitment and retention of public health workers and to eliminate 

critical public health workforce shortages in Federal, State, local, and 

tribal public health agencies and health centers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 21, 2009 

Ms. MATSUI 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 various 

programs for the recruitment and retention of public 

health workers and to eliminate critical public health 

workforce shortages in Federal, State, local, and tribal 

public health agencies and health centers. 

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 ‘‘Public Health Work5 force Development Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) The ability of the public health system to 

2 prevent, respond to, and recover from bioterrorism, 

3 acute outbreaks of infectious diseases, or other 

4 health threats and emergencies, and to prevent and 

5 reduce chronic disease, depends upon the existence 

6 of adequate numbers of well-trained public health 

7 professionals in Federal, State, local, and tribal pub8 lic health departments and health centers. 

9 (2) The public health system has an aging staff 

10 nearing retirement with no clear pipeline of highly 

11 skilled and capable employees to fill the void, with 

12 the average age of the State public health workforce 

13 at 47 years. 

14 (3) Retirement rates in some State public 

15 health agencies were as high as 20 percent as of 

16 June 2007, and projected to be as high as 45 per17 cent in 2009. 

18 (4) The ratio of public health workers to the 

19 population has dropped from 219 per 100,000 in 

20 1980 to 158 per 100,000 in 2000, while responsibil21 ities of such workers have continued to expand. 

22 (5) Public health nurses comprise the largest 

23 segment of the public health workforce. A study by 

24 the Institute of Medicine in 2003 identified nursing 

25 as facing one of the most severe shortages of public 


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1 health workers. The average age of public health 

2 nurses is nearly 50 years, with the leaders of State 

3 public health nursing averaging more than 30 years 

4 of service. In one State nearly 40 percent of the 

5 public health nursing workforce was eligible for re6 tirement as of June 2007. 

7 (6) According to the Association of State and 

8 Territorial Health Officials, most of the approxi9 mately 6,400 graduates from accredited schools of 

10 public health took jobs in the private sector in 2004. 

11 The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that there 

12 will be an increase in private sector demand for 

13 highly educated graduates in scientific fields during 

14 the 10-year period ending in 2017. Public health 

15 agencies will have difficulty competing for those 

16 highly skilled scientists. 

17 (7) As of June 2007, approximately 42 percent 

18 of the epidemiology workforce in State and terri19 torial health departments lacked formal academic 

20 training in epidemiology. States have reported that 

21 approximately 47 percent more epidemiologists are 

22 needed to adequately prevent and control avian in23 fluenza and other emerging diseases. 

24 (8) The Partnership for Public Service reports 

25 that in the field of microbiology, there are more than 


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1 4 times as many full-time permanent employees over 

2 age 40 as under age 40 at the Centers for Disease 

3 Control and Prevention. Among full-time permanent 

4 employees with medical backgrounds at the Centers 

5 for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food 

6 and Drug Administration, there are 3 times as many 

7 employees over 40 years of age as under 40. 

8 (9) More than 50 percent of States cite the lack 

9 of qualified individuals or individuals willing to relo10 cate as being a major barrier to preparedness. A 

11 study conducted by the Health Resources and Serv12 ices Association reported difficulty with recruiting 

13 more educated, skilled public health providers to 

14 work in traditionally medically underserved areas, 

15 such as rural populations. Public health agencies 

16 continue to face an unmet need for public health 

17 workers who are bilingual and culturally competent. 

18 (10) Lack of access to advanced education, in19 cluding baccalaureate nursing and graduate studies, 

20 is a significant barrier to upgrading the existing 

21 public health workforce, particularly in rural areas. 


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1 SEC. 3. PUBLIC HEALTH WORKFORCE RECRUITMENT AND 

2 RETENTION PROGRAMS. 

3 Part E of title VII of the Public Health Service Act 

4 (42 U.S.C. 294n et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘Subpart 3—Public Health Workforce Recruitment 

7 and Retention Programs 

8 ‘‘SEC. 780. PUBLIC HEALTH WORKFORCE SCHOLARSHIP 

9 PROGRAM. 

10 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab11 lish the Public Health Workforce Scholarship Program 

12 (referred to in this section as the ‘Program’) to assure 

13 an adequate supply of public health professionals to elimi14 nate critical public health workforce shortages in Federal, 

15 State, local, and tribal public health agencies and health 

16 centers. 

17 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to participate in 

18 the Program, an individual shall— 

19 ‘‘(1) be accepted for enrollment, or be enrolled, 

20 as a full-time student— 

21 ‘‘(A) in an accredited (as determined by 

22 the Secretary) educational institution in a State 

23 or territory; and 

24 ‘‘(B) in a course of study or program, of25 fered by such institution and approved by the 

26 Secretary, leading to a health professions deVerDate Nov 24 2008 22:02 May 26, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2620.IH H2620

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1 gree (graduate, undergraduate, or associate) or 

2 certificate, which may include public health, 

3 laboratory sciences, epidemiology, environ4 mental health, health communications, health 

5 education and behavioral sciences, information 

6 sciences, or public administration; 

7 ‘‘(2) be a United States citizen; 

8 ‘‘(3) submit an application to the Secretary to 

9 participate in the Program; and 

10 ‘‘(4) sign and submit to the Secretary, at the 

11 time of the submission of such application, a written 

12 contract (described in subsection (d)) to serve, upon 

13 the completion of the course of study or program in14 volved, for the applicable period of obligated service 

15 in the full-time employment of a Federal, State, 

16 local, or tribal public health agency or a health cen17 ter. 

18 ‘‘(c) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.— 

19 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION AND CONTRACT FORMS.— 

20 The Secretary shall disseminate application forms 

21 and contract forms to individuals desiring to partici22 pate in the Program. The Secretary shall include 

23 with such forms— 

24 ‘‘(A) a fair summary of the rights and li25 abilities of an individual whose application is 


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1 approved (and whose contract is accepted) by 

2 the Secretary, including in the summary a clear 

3 explanation of the damages to which the United 

4 States is entitled in the case of the individual’s 

5 breach of the contract; and 

6 ‘‘(B) information relating to the service ob7 ligation and such other information as may be 

8 necessary for the individual to understand the 

9 individual’s prospective participation in the Pro10 gram. 

11 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION FOR SCHOOLS.—The Sec12 retary shall distribute to health professions schools 

13 and other appropriate accredited academic institu14 tions and relevant Federal, State, local, and tribal 

15 public health agencies, materials providing informa16 tion on the Program and shall encourage such 

17 schools, institutions, and agencies to disseminate 

18 such materials to potentially eligible students. 

19 ‘‘(3) UNDERSTANDABILITY AND TIMING.—The 

20 application form, contract form, and all other infor21 mation furnished by the Secretary under this section 

22 shall— 

23 ‘‘(A) be written in a manner calculated to 

24 be understood by the average individual apply25 ing to participate in the Program; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) be made available by the Secretary on 

2 a date sufficiently early to ensure that such in3 dividuals have adequate time to carefully review 

4 and evaluate such forms and information. 

5 ‘‘(d) CONTRACT.—The written contract between the 

6 Secretary and an individual shall contain— 

7 ‘‘(1) an agreement on the part of the Secretary 

8 that the Secretary will provide the individual with a 

9 scholarship for a period of years (not to exceed 4 

10 academic years) during which the individual shall 

11 pursue an approved course of study or program to 

12 prepare the individual to serve in the public health 

13 workforce; 

14 ‘‘(2) an agreement on the part of the individual 

15 that the individual will— 

16 ‘‘(A) maintain full-time enrollment in the 

17 approved course of study or program described 

18 in subsection (b)(1) until the individual com19 pletes that course of study or program; 

20 ‘‘(B) while enrolled in the course of study 

21 or program, maintain an acceptable level of aca22 demic standing (as determined under regula23 tions of the Secretary by the educational insti24 tution offering such course of study or pro25 gram); and 


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1 ‘‘(C) immediately upon graduation, serve 

2 in the full-time employment of a Federal, State, 

3 local, or tribal public health agency or a health 

4 center in a position related to the course of 

5 study or program for which the contract was 

6 awarded for a period of time (referred to in this 

7 section as the ‘period of obligated service’) 

8 equal to the greater of— 

9 ‘‘(i) 1 year for each academic year for 

10 which the individual was provided a schol11 arship under the Program; or 

12 ‘‘(ii) 2 years; 

13 ‘‘(3) an agreement by both parties as to the na14 ture and extent of the scholarship assistance, which 

15 may include— 

16 ‘‘(A) payment of the tuition expenses of 

17 the individual; 

18 ‘‘(B) payment of all other reasonable edu19 cational expenses of the individual including 

20 fees, books, equipment, and laboratory ex21 penses; and 

22 ‘‘(C) payment of a stipend of not more 

23 than $1,200 per month for each month of the 

24 academic year involved (indexed to account for 

25 increases in the Consumer Price Index); 


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1 ‘‘(4) a provision that any financial obligation of 

2 the United States arising out of a contract entered 

3 into under this subsection and any obligation of the 

4 individual which is conditioned thereon, is contingent 

5 upon funds being appropriated for scholarships 

6 under this section; 

7 ‘‘(5) a statement of the damages to which the 

8 United States is entitled for the individual’s breach 

9 of the contract; and 

10 ‘‘(6) such other statements of the rights and li11 abilities of the Secretary and of the individual, not 

12 inconsistent with the provisions of this section. 

13 ‘‘(e) POSTPONING OBLIGATED SERVICE.—With re14 spect to an individual receiving a degree or certificate from 

15 a school of medicine, public health, nursing, osteopathic 

16 medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, optometry, po17 diatry, pharmacy, psychology, or social work under a 

18 scholarship under the Program, the date of the initiation 

19 of the period of obligated service may be postponed, upon 

20 the submission by the individual of a petition for such 

21 postponement and approval by the Secretary, to the date 

22 on which the individual completes an approved internship, 

23 residency, or other relevant public health advanced train24 ing program. 

25 ‘‘(f) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) CONTRACTS WITH INSTITUTIONS.—The 

2 Secretary may contract with an educational institu3 tion in which a participant in the Program is en4 rolled, for the payment to the educational institution 

5 of the amounts of tuition and other reasonable edu6 cational expenses described in subsection (d)(3). 

7 ‘‘(2) EMPLOYMENT CEILINGS.—Notwith8 standing any other provision of law, individuals who 

9 have entered into written contracts with the Sec10 retary under this section, while undergoing academic 

11 training, shall not be counted against any employ12 ment ceiling affecting the Department or any other 

13 Federal agency. 

14 ‘‘(g) BREACH OF CONTRACT.—An individual who 

15 fails to comply with the contract entered into under sub16 section (d) shall be subject to the same financial penalties 

17 as provided for under section 338E for breaches of schol18 arship contracts under sections 338A. 

19 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

20 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

21 $35,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2010 through 

22 2015. 

23 ‘‘(i) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this subpart, the 

24 term ‘health center’ has the meaning given such term in 

25 section 330(a). 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 781. PUBLIC HEALTH WORKFORCE LOAN REPAYMENT 

2 PROGRAM. 

3 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab4 lish the Public Health Workforce Loan Repayment Pro5 gram (referred to in this section as the ‘Program’) to as6 sure an adequate supply of public health professionals to 

7 eliminate critical public health workforce shortages in 

8 Federal, State, local, and tribal public health agencies and 

9 in health centers. 

10 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to participate in 

11 the Program, an individual shall— 

12 ‘‘(1)(A) be accepted for enrollment, or be en13 rolled, as a full-time or part-time student in an ac14 credited academic educational institution in a State 

15 or territory in the final year of a course of study or 

16 program offered by that institution leading to a 

17 health professions degree or certificate, which may 

18 include a degree (graduate, undergraduate, or asso19 ciate) or certificate relating to public health, labora20 tory sciences, epidemiology, environmental health, 

21 health communications, health education and behav22 ioral sciences, information sciences, or public admin23 istration; or 

24 ‘‘(B) have graduated, within 10 years, from an 

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1 uate, undergraduate, or associate) or certificate, 

2 which may include a degree (graduate, under3 graduate, or associate) or certificate relating to pub4 lic health, laboratory sciences, epidemiology, environ5 mental health, health communications, health edu6 cation and behavioral sciences, information sciences, 

7 or public administration; 

8 ‘‘(2)(A) in the case of an individual described in 

9 paragraph (1)(A), have accepted employment with a 

10 Federal, State, local, or tribal public health agency 

11 or a health center, as recognized by the Secretary, 

12 to commence upon graduation; or 

13 ‘‘(B) in the case of an individual described in 

14 paragraph (1)(B), be employed by, or have accepted 

15 employment with, a Federal, State, local, or tribal 

16 public health agency or a health center, as recog17 nized by the Secretary; 

18 ‘‘(3) be a United States citizen; 

19 ‘‘(4) submit an application to the Secretary to 

20 participate in the Program; and 

21 ‘‘(5) sign and submit to the Secretary, at the 

22 time of the submission of such application, a written 

23 contract (described in subsection (d)) to serve for 

24 the applicable period of obligated service in the fullVerDate Nov 24 2008 22:02 May 26, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2620.IH H2620

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1 time employment of a Federal, State, local, or tribal 

2 public health agency or a health center. 

3 ‘‘(c) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.— 

4 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION AND CONTRACT FORMS.— 

5 The Secretary shall disseminate application forms 

6 and contract forms to individuals desiring to partici7 pate in the Program. The Secretary shall include 

8 with such forms— 

9 ‘‘(A) a fair summary of the rights and li10 abilities of an individual whose application is 

11 approved (and whose contract is accepted) by 

12 the Secretary, including in the summary a clear 

13 explanation of the damages to which the United 

14 States is entitled to recover in the case of the 

15 individual’s breach of the contract; and 

16 ‘‘(B) information relating to the service ob17 ligation and such other information as may be 

18 necessary for the individual to understand the 

19 individual’s prospective participation in the Pro20 gram. 

21 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION FOR SCHOOLS.—The Sec22 retary shall distribute to health professions schools 

23 and other appropriate accredited academic institu24 tions and relevant Federal, State, local, and tribal 

25 public health agencies and health centers, materials 


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1 providing information on the Program and shall en2 courage such schools, institutions, and agencies to 

3 disseminate such materials to potentially eligible stu4 dents. 

5 ‘‘(3) UNDERSTANDABILITY AND TIMING.—The 

6 application form, contract form, and all other infor7 mation furnished by the Secretary under this section 

8 shall— 

9 ‘‘(A) be written in a manner calculated to 

10 be understood by the average individual apply11 ing to participate in the Program; and 

12 ‘‘(B) be made available by the Secretary on 

13 a date sufficiently early to ensure that such in14 dividuals have adequate time to carefully review 

15 and evaluate such forms and information. 

16 ‘‘(d) CONTRACT.—The written contract (referred to 

17 in this section) between the Secretary and an individual 

18 shall contain— 

19 ‘‘(1) an agreement on the part of the Secretary 

20 that the Secretary will repay on behalf of the indi21 vidual loans incurred by the individual in the pursuit 

22 of the relevant public health workforce educational 

23 degree or certificate in accordance with the terms of 

24 the contract; 


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1 ‘‘(2) an agreement on the part of the individual 

2 that the individual will serve, immediately upon 

3 graduation in the case of an individual described in 

4 subsection (b)(1)(A) service, or in the case of an in5 dividual described in subsection (b)(1)(B) continue 

6 to serve, in the full-time employment of a Federal, 

7 State, local, or tribal public health agency or health 

8 center in a position related to the course of study or 

9 program for which the contract was awarded for a 

10 period of time (referred to in this section as the ‘pe11 riod of obligated service’) equal to the greater of— 

12 ‘‘(A) 3 years; or 

13 ‘‘(B) such longer period of time as deter14 mined appropriate by the Secretary and the in15 dividual; 

16 ‘‘(3) an agreement, as appropriate, on the part 

17 of the individual to relocate for the entire period of 

18 obligated service to a political jurisdiction designated 

19 by the Secretary to be a priority service area in ex20 change for an additional loan repayment incentive 

21 amount that does not exceed 20 percent of the indi22 vidual’s eligible loan repayment award per academic 

23 year such that the total of the loan repayment and 

the incentive amount shall not exceed 1 24 ⁄3 of the eligi25 ble loan balance per year; 


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1 ‘‘(4) in the case of an individual described in 

2 subsection (b)(1)(A) who is in the final year of study 

3 and who has accepted employment with a Federal, 

4 State, local, or tribal public health agency or a 

5 health center upon graduation, an agreement on the 

6 part of the individual to complete the education or 

7 training, maintain an acceptable level of academic 

8 standing (as determined by the education institution 

9 offering the course of study or training), and agree 

10 to the period of obligated service; 

11 ‘‘(5) a provision that any financial obligation of 

12 the United States arising out of a contract entered 

13 into under this section and any obligation of the in14 dividual that is conditioned thereon, is contingent on 

15 funds being appropriated for loan repayments under 

16 this section; 

17 ‘‘(6) a statement of the damages to which the 

18 United States is entitled, under this section for the 

19 individual’s breach of the contract; and 

20 ‘‘(7) such other statements of the rights and li21 abilities of the Secretary and of the individual, not 

22 inconsistent with this section. 

23 ‘‘(e) PAYMENTS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A loan repayment provided 

25 for an individual under a written contract under the 


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1 Program shall consist of payment, in accordance 

2 with paragraph (2), on behalf of the individual of 

3 the principal, interest, and related expenses on gov4 ernment and commercial loans received by the indi5 vidual regarding the undergraduate or graduate edu6 cation of the individual (or both), which loans were 

7 made for— 

8 ‘‘(A) tuition expenses; or 

9 ‘‘(B) all other reasonable educational ex10 penses, including fees, books, and laboratory ex11 penses, incurred by the individual. 

12 ‘‘(2) PAYMENTS FOR YEARS SERVED.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For each year of obli14 gated service that an individual contracts to 

15 serve under subsection (d) the Secretary may 

16 pay up to $35,000 on behalf of the individual 

17 for loans described in paragraph (1). With re18 spect to participants under the Program whose 

19 total eligible loans are less than $105,000, the 

20 Secretary shall pay an amount that does not exceed 1 21 ⁄3 of the eligible loan balance for each 

22 year of obligated service of the individual. 

23 ‘‘(B) REPAYMENT SCHEDULE.—Any ar24 rangement made by the Secretary for the mak25 ing of loan repayments in accordance with this 


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1 subsection shall provide that any repayments 

2 for a year of obligated service shall be made no 

3 later than the end of the fiscal year in which 

4 the individual completes such year of service. 

5 ‘‘(3) TAX LIABILITY.—For the purpose of pro6 viding reimbursements for tax liability resulting 

7 from payments under paragraph (2) on behalf of an 

8 individual— 

9 ‘‘(A) the Secretary shall, in addition to 

10 such payments, make payments to the indi11 vidual in an amount not to exceed 39 percent 

12 of the total amount of loan repayments made 

13 for the taxable year involved; and 

14 ‘‘(B) may make such additional payments 

15 as the Secretary determines to be appropriate 

16 with respect to such purpose. 

17 ‘‘(4) PAYMENT SCHEDULE.—The Secretary 

18 may enter into an agreement with the holder of any 

19 loan for which payments are made under the Pro20 gram to establish a schedule for the making of such 

21 payments. 

22 ‘‘(f) POSTPONING OBLIGATED SERVICE.—With re23 spect to an individual receiving a degree or certificate from 

24 a school of medicine, public health, nursing, osteopathic 

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1 diatry, pharmacy, psychology, or social work, the date of 

2 the initiation of the period of obligated service may be 

3 postponed, upon the submission by the individual of a peti4 tion for such postponement and approval by the Secretary, 

5 to the date on which the individual completes an approved 

6 internship, residency, or other relevant public health ad7 vanced training program. 

8 ‘‘(g) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) HIRING PRIORITY.—Notwithstanding any 

10 other provision of law, Federal, State, local, and 

11 tribal public health agencies and health centers may 

12 give hiring priority to any individual who has quali13 fied for and is willing to execute a contract to par14 ticipate in the Program. 

15 ‘‘(2) EMPLOYMENT CEILINGS.—Notwith16 standing any other provision of law, individuals who 

17 have entered into written contracts with the Sec18 retary under this section, who are serving as full19 time employees of a State, local, or tribal public 

20 health agency or a health center, or who are in the 

21 last year of public health workforce academic prepa22 ration, shall not be counted against any employment 

23 ceiling affecting the Department or any other Fed24 eral agency. 


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1 ‘‘(h) BREACH OF CONTRACT.—An individual who 

2 fails to comply with the contract entered into under sub3 section (d) shall be subject to the same financial penalties 

4 as provided for under section 338E for breaches of loan 

5 repayment contracts under section 338B. 

6 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

7 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

8 $195,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2010 through 

9 2015. 

10 ‘‘SEC. 782. GRANTS FOR STATE AND LOCAL PROGRAMS. 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of operating 

12 State, local, tribal, and health center public health work13 force loan repayment programs under this subpart, the 

14 Secretary shall award a grant to any public health agency 

15 that receives public health preparedness cooperative agree16 ments, or other successor cooperative agreements, from 

17 the Department of Health and Human Services. 

18 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—A State or local loan repay19 ment program operated with a grant under subsection (a) 

20 shall incorporate all provisions of the Public Health Work21 force Loan Repayment Program under section 781, in22 cluding the ability to designate priority service areas with23 in the relevant political jurisdiction. 

24 ‘‘(c) ADMINISTRATION.—The head of the State or 

25 local office that receives a grant under subsection (a) shall 


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1 be responsible for contracting and operating the loan re2 payment program under the grant. 

3 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec4 tion shall be construed to obligate or limit any State, local, 

5 or tribal government entity from implementing inde6 pendent or supplemental public health workforce develop7 ment programs within their borders. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 783. TRAINING FOR MID-CAREER PUBLIC HEALTH 

9 PROFESSIONALS. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make grants 

11 to, or enter into contracts with, any eligible entity to 

12 award scholarships to eligible individuals to enroll in de13 gree or professional training programs for the purpose of 

14 enabling mid-career professionals in the public health 

15 workforce to receive additional training in the field of pub16 lic health. 

17 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.— 

18 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en19 tity’ indicates an accredited educational institution 

20 that offers a course of study, certificate program, or 

21 professional training program in infectious disease 

22 science, medicine, public health, veterinary medicine, 

23 or other discipline impacting or influenced by bioter24 rorism or emerging infectious diseases. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.—The term ‘eligi2 ble individuals’ includes those individuals employed 

3 in public health positions at the Federal, State, trib4 al, or local level or a health center who are inter5 ested in retaining or upgrading their education. 

6 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

7 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

8 $30,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2010 through 

9 2015. 

10 ‘‘SEC. 784. CATALOGUE OF FEDERAL PUBLIC HEALTH 

11 WORKFORCE EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES. 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of 

13 Personnel Management, in cooperation with the Secretary, 

14 shall ensure that, included in the Internet website of the 

15 Office of Personnel Management, there is an online cata16 logue, or link to an online catalogue, of public health work17 force employment opportunities in the Federal Govern18 ment. 

19 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—To the extent practicable, the 

20 catalogue described in subsection (a) shall include— 

21 ‘‘(1) existing and projected job openings in the 

22 Federal public health workforce; and 

23 ‘‘(2) a general discussion of the occupations 

24 that comprise the Federal public health workforce. 


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1 ‘‘(c) INFORMATION.—The Secretary shall include a 

2 copy of the catalogue described in subsection (a), or a 

3 prominent reference to the catalogue, in— 

4 ‘‘(1) the application forms provided under sec5 tion 780(c)(1); and 

6 ‘‘(2) the information for schools provided under 

7 section 780(c)(2). 

8 ‘‘SEC. 785. ACADEMIC HEALTH DEPARTMENTS GRANT PRO9 GRAM. 

10 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to improve the 

12 training of public health students, the Secretary, 

13 acting through the Director of the Centers for Dis14 ease Control and Prevention and in consultation 

15 with the Association of Schools of Public Health, 

16 shall carry out the Academic Health Departments 

17 grant program (referred to in this section as the 

18 ‘Program’) under which the Secretary shall award 

19 competitive grants, of not more than $250,000 each, 

20 to eligible partnerships to establish Academic Health 

21 Departments. 

22 ‘‘(2) ACADEMIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT DE23 FINED.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘Aca24 demic Health Department’ means a program admin25 istered by an eligible partnership that provides for 


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1 collaboration between the academic and practice as2 pects of public health. The purpose of such a depart3 ment is to increase the number of graduates in pub4 lic health who work in State and local health depart5 ments, increase the relevance of the curriculum in 

6 schools and programs of public health to health de7 partment practice, and to increase the use of aca8 demic theories, knowledge, and methodologies in the 

9 work of health departments. 

10 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—For purposes of this section, an 

11 eligible partnership is a partnership, with respect to estab12 lishing an Academic Health Department, consisting of— 

13 ‘‘(1) a State or local public health department; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(2) an accredited school of public health or an 

16 accredited public health degree program. 

17 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible partnership (as de18 scribed in subsection (b)) may use funds provided under 

19 a grant made under subsection (a) for the following pur20 poses, with respect to an Academic Health Department: 

21 ‘‘(1) To provide for curriculum development. 

22 ‘‘(2) To provide for training and academic in23 struction. 

24 ‘‘(3) To conduct leadership seminars. 


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1 ‘‘(4) To conduct training needs assessment sur2 veys. 

3 ‘‘(5) To facilitate appropriate staff of the State 

4 or local health department participating in the eligi5 ble partnership to teach with the school of public 

6 health or public health degree program participating 

7 in such partnership. 

8 ‘‘(6) To facilitate faculty and students of the 

9 school of public health or public health degree pro10 gram participating in the eligible partnership to 

11 work in the health department participating in such 

12 partnership. 

13 ‘‘(7) To provide for a project coordinator. 

14 ‘‘(8) To provide for subgrants to organizations 

15 to conduct activities consistent with the goals of the 

16 Program. 

17 ‘‘(9) Other appropriate activities specified by 

18 the Secretary to recruit public health students to full 

19 time employment in a health department after grad20 uation. 

21 ‘‘(d) REPORTS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) GRANT RECIPIENT REPORTS TO THE SEC23 RETARY.—Each recipient of a grant awarded under 

24 subsection (a) shall submit to the Secretary a report 

25 for each year for which the recipient received such 


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1 a grant on the results and outcomes of the activities 

2 funded by such grant during such year. 

3 ‘‘(2) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—For the 3-year 

4 period beginning on the date of the establishment of 

5 the Program, and for each subsequent 3-year period 

6 in which the Program is in existence, the Secretary 

7 shall submit to Congress a report, on the results and 

8 outcomes of the Program during such 3-year period, 

9 including the number of Academic Health Depart10 ments funded by grants under the Program, the 

11 number of students trained through grants under 

12 the Program, and the number of trainees partici13 pating in such Academic Health Departments who 

14 remain in public health professions. 

15 ‘‘(3) EVALUATION OF PROGRAM.—Not later 

16 than the date that is 5 years after the date of the 

17 establishment of the Program, the Secretary shall 

18 submit to Congress a report that examines the re19 sults and outcomes of the Program and recommends 

20 the extent to which the Program should be contin21 ued. 

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

23 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 


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1 $4,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2009 through 

2 2014.’’. 

Æ 


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