I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3512
To provide for the establishment of demonstration programs to address the 
shortages of health care professionals in rural areas, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 18, 2003
Mr. OTTER (for himself, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. DICKS, Mr. SMITH of Wash-
ington, Ms. DUNN, Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. 
LARSEN of Washington, Mr. NETHERCUTT, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. 
REHBERG, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, and Mrs. CUBIN) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com-
merce 
A BILL 
To provide for the establishment of demonstration programs 
to address the shortages of health care professionals 
in rural areas, 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 ‘‘Rural Health Training 
Incentive Act’’.
SEC. 2. DEMONSTRATION PROGRAMS TO ENCOURAGE 
HEALTH PROFESSIONALS TO PRACTICE IN 
RURAL AREAS. 
Part B of title VII of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 293 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘SEC. 742. DEMONSTRATION PROGRAMS TO ENCOURAGE 
HEALTH PROFESSIONALS TO PRACTICE IN 
RURAL AREAS. 
‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, acting through the Director of the Office 
of Rural Health Policy, may award grants to 5 accredited 
schools of medicine or accredited schools of nursing to en-
able each such school to conduct a demonstration program 
to encourage more health professionals to practice in rural 
areas. 
‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Amounts provided as a 
grant under subsection (a) shall be used for the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(A) Developing new programs and im-
proving existing programs for encouraging 
youth in rural areas to enter health professions. 
‘‘(B) Strengthening and stabilizing the sys-
tem of training of health professionals that are
needed (as determined by the Secretary) in 
rural areas. 
‘‘(C) Expanding the network of rural train-
ing tracks in health professions. 
‘‘(2) FAMILY MEDICINE; NURSING.—Of the 5 
grants awarded under this section—
‘‘(A) at least 1 shall be for a demonstra-
tion program for physicians in family medicine 
that includes a regional consortium with 3 or 
more family medicine residency programs 
that—
‘‘(i) each have a residency rural train-
ing program; and 
‘‘(ii) are located in 3 or more States; 
and 
‘‘(B) at least 1 shall be for a demonstra-
tion program for nurses, including registered 
nurses, nurse anesthetists, and nurse practi-
tioners. 
‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec-
tion, the Secretary shall give priority to accredited schools 
of medicine or nursing that—
‘‘(1) have a residency program or clinical rota-
tion with on-site rural training of a duration of at 
least 2 months; and
‘‘(2) provide a comprehensive approach to im-
proving health profession shortages in rural areas 
that includes recruiting students from rural areas 
and placing graduates in rural communities. 
‘‘(d) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to the costs of 
a demonstration program to be carried out under 
subsection (a) by an applicant, the Secretary may 
not award a grant to the applicant unless the appli-
cant agrees to make available (directly or through 
donations from public or private entities) non-Fed-
eral contributions toward such costs in an amount 
that is not less than 50 percent of such costs. 
‘‘(2) DETERMINATION
OF
AMOUNT
CONTRIB-
UTED.—Non-Federal contributions required in para-
graph (1) may be in cash or in kind, fairly evalu-
ated, including plant, equipment, or services. 
Amounts provided by the Federal Government, or 
services assisted or subsidized to any significant ex-
tent by the Federal Government, may not be in-
cluded in determining the amount of such non-Fed-
eral contributions. 
‘‘(e) DURATION.—The Secretary shall award each 
grant under this section for a period of 3 years. 
‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section:
‘‘(1) 
ACCREDITED.—The 
term 
‘accredited’ 
means—
‘‘(A) for a school of medicine, accredited 
by the Liaison Committee on Medical Edu-
cation; 
‘‘(B) for a school of nursing, accredited by 
the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Edu-
cation; and 
‘‘(C) for a school of nursing relative to a 
nurse anesthesia program, accredited by the 
Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia 
Educational Programs. 
‘‘(2) SCHOOL OF NURSING.—The term ‘school 
of nursing’ has the meaning given to that term 
under section 801. 
‘‘(g) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after the 
end of the 3-year period of the demonstration programs 
conducted with grants under this section, the Secretary 
shall submit to the Congress a report containing findings 
and recommendations on the effectiveness of the dem-
onstration programs in addressing the shortages of health 
care professionals in rural areas.