I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1599 
To ensure an adequate supply of public health professionals, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 20, 2007 
Mr. JEFFERSON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on 
Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To ensure an adequate supply of public health professionals, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Expanding, Rebuild-
ing, and Improving Access to Qualified Health Care Pro-
fessionals in Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Affected Areas 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds as follows: 
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(1) Studies state the New Orleans area is now 
home to one million people, just under the pre- 
Katrina population of 1.3 million. But the health 
care resources necessary to adequately serve that 
level of population have not returned: only half of 
the previous 4,000 hospital beds are available; there 
is no level I trauma center; there are 34 nursing 
homes, down from 63; and 19 clinics, down from 90. 
(2) According to recent statements in the ‘‘New 
England Journal of Medicine’’, the health care situa-
tion in New Orleans area remains unacceptably 
primitive. The absence of chronic care facilities con-
tributes to the lengthening of stay in acute care hos-
pitals whose costs exceed Centers for Medicare & 
Medicaid Services reimbursement, and these addi-
tional uncompensated expenses may soon force re-
cently reopened hospital beds to close again. Without 
rapid, coordinated, and effective help from govern-
ment agencies, it is feared that disproportionate 
human suffering and death will continue to plague 
greater New Orleans. 
(3) According to the Bureau of Health Profes-
sions, National Center for Health Workforce Anal-
ysis, the Louisiana health care system before Hurri-
cane Katrina and Rita was struggling with a short-
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age of primary care areas in 55 parishes and short-
ages of physician assistants, nurse practitioners, 
nurse midwives, dentists, psychologists, and social 
workers. 
(4) Health profession students, starting a new 
academic year, were forced to evacuate the city. 
Many trainees from Tulane University were relo-
cated to Houston and Galveston in Texas. Less than 
a month later, on 24 September, another hurricane, 
Rita, hit land near the Louisiana-Texas border. 
Many of the 5,000 medical students and doctors in 
training in Texas were evacuated again. 
(5) Prior to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Lou-
isiana had the highest cost of health care in the Na-
tion, but was rated the least healthiest State with 
the second highest infant mortality rate, the highest 
rate of premature deaths, and the third highest un-
insured rate. 
(6) After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Lou-
isiana lost vast amounts of medical services (preven-
tive, primary care, acute, emergency, critical care, 
surgical, subspecialty, maternity, gynecologic, family 
planning, sexually transmitted disease treatment, 
psychiatric/mental health, rehabilitation, administra-
tive, diagnostic imaging, and laboratory). 
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(7) After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Lou-
isiana lost over 7,500 health care professionals, in-
cluding doctors, nurses, allied health care profes-
sionals, dentists, medial support providers, public 
health professionals, behavioral specialists, mental 
health workers, and physical therapists. 
(8) New Orleans’ only certified level I trauma 
unit is still closed as of October 2006, and the num-
ber of staffed hospital beds in the City of New Orle-
ans was about 60 percent less than before Hurricane 
Katrina. Prior to Katrina, 90 clinics were in oper-
ation, including 70 clinics run by the Medical Center 
of Louisiana at New Orleans, with the remainder 
being federally qualified health centers, mental 
health or addictive disorder clinics, or other specialty 
clinics. Post-hurricane, 19 clinics were open and 
generally operating at less than 50 percent of pre- 
Katrina capacity. 
(9) More than three-fourths of the safety net 
clinics in New Orleans remain closed, and many of 
those that were open had limited capacity, according 
to data gathered by officials. 
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SEC. 3. HURRICANE KATRINA AND RITA PUBLIC HEALTH 
WORKFORCE SCHOLARSHIP AND LOAN RE-
PAYMENT PROGRAM. 
Part E of title VII of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 294n et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘Subpart 3—Public Health Workforce Scholarship 
and Loan Repayment Program 
‘‘SEC. 775. HURRICANES KATRINA AND RITA PUBLIC 
HEALTH WORKFORCE SCHOLARSHIP PRO-
GRAM. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab-
lish the Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Public Health Work-
force Scholarship Program (referred to in this section as 
the ‘Program’) to ensure an adequate supply of public 
health professionals to eliminate critical public health pre-
paredness workforce shortages in State and local public 
health agencies in areas directly affected by Hurricane 
Katrina or Rita. 
‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to participate in 
the Program, an individual shall— 
‘‘(1) be accepted for enrollment, or be enrolled, 
as a full-time student— 
‘‘(A) in an accredited (as determined by 
the Secretary) educational institution in a State 
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directly affected by Hurricane Katrina or Rita; 
and 
‘‘(B) in a course of study or program, of-
fered by such institution and approved by the 
Secretary, leading to a health professions de-
gree (graduate, undergraduate, or associate) or 
certificate, 
which 
may 
include 
laboratory 
sciences, epidemiology, environmental health, 
health communications, health education and 
behavioral sciences, psychology, physical ther-
apy, gerontology, sociology, health policy, social 
work, information sciences, or public adminis-
tration; 
‘‘(2) be a citizen of the United States or an 
alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence in 
the United States; 
‘‘(3) submit an application to the Secretary to 
participate in the Program; and 
‘‘(4) sign and submit to the Secretary, at the 
time of the submission of such application, a written 
contract (described in subsection (d)) to serve, upon 
the completion of the course of study or program in-
volved, for the applicable period of obligated service 
in the full-time employment of a Federal, State or 
local public health agency, organization, or associa-
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tion in an area directly affected by Hurricane 
Katrina or Rita. 
‘‘(c) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.— 
‘‘(1) APPLICATION
AND
CONTRACT
FORMS.— 
The Secretary shall disseminate application forms 
and contract forms to individuals desiring to partici-
pate in the Program. The Secretary shall include 
with such forms— 
‘‘(A) a fair summary of the rights and li-
abilities of an individual whose application is 
approved (and whose contract is accepted) by 
the Secretary, including in the summary a clear 
explanation of the damages to which the United 
States is entitled to recover in the case of the 
individual’s breach of the contract; and 
‘‘(B) information relating to the service ob-
ligation and such other information as may be 
necessary for the individual to understand the 
individual’s prospective participation in the Pro-
gram. 
‘‘(2) INFORMATION
FOR
SCHOOLS.—The Sec-
retary shall distribute to health professions schools, 
Historically Black Colleges and Universities, His-
panic-serving institutions, Tribal Colleges and Uni-
versities, Asian-American- and Pacific Islander-serv-
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ing institutions, secondary educational institutions, 
and other appropriate accredited academic institu-
tions and relevant Federal, State, local, and tribal 
public health agencies, materials providing informa-
tion on the Program and shall encourage such 
schools, institutions, and agencies to disseminate 
such materials to potentially eligible students. 
‘‘(3) UNDERSTANDABILITY, AND TIMING.—The 
application form, contract form, and all other infor-
mation furnished by the Secretary under this section 
shall— 
‘‘(A) be written in a manner calculated to 
be understood by the average individual apply-
ing to participate in the Program; and 
‘‘(B) be made available by the Secretary on 
a date sufficiently early to ensure that such in-
dividuals have adequate time to carefully review 
and evaluate such forms and information. 
‘‘(4) 
SPECIAL
CONSIDERATION.—Individuals 
who are eligible under subsection (b) shall be pro-
vided special consideration if the individuals are 
from medically underserved communities, as defined 
in section 799B of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 295p). 
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‘‘(d) CONTRACT.—The written contract (referred to 
in this section) between the Secretary and an individual 
shall contain— 
‘‘(1) an agreement on the part of the Secretary 
that the Secretary will provide the individual with a 
scholarship for a period of years (not to exceed 5 
academic years) during which the individual shall 
pursue an approved course of study or program to 
prepare the individual to serve in the public health 
workforce; 
‘‘(2) an agreement on the part of the individual 
that the individual will— 
‘‘(A) maintain full-time enrollment in the 
approved course of study or program described 
in subsection (b)(1) until the individual com-
pletes that course of study or program; 
‘‘(B) while enrolled in the course of study 
or program, maintain an acceptable level of aca-
demic standing (as determined under regula-
tions of the Secretary by the educational insti-
tution offering such course of study or pro-
gram); and 
‘‘(C) immediately upon graduation, serve 
in the full-time employment of a Federal, State, 
or local public health agency, organization, or 
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