I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2623 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs to designate medical facilities of the Department of Veterans 
Affairs as innovative therapies centers of excellence, and for other pur-
poses. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 3, 2025 
Mr. CORREA (for himself, Mr. BERGMAN, Mr. CRENSHAW, Mr. KHANNA, and 
Mr. LUTTRELL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs to designate medical facilities 
of the Department of Veterans Affairs as innovative 
therapies centers of excellence, 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 ‘‘Innovative Therapies 
Centers of Excellence Act of 2025’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
02:58 Apr 09, 2025
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2623.IH
H2623
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS DESIGNA-
TION OF INNOVATIVE THERAPIES CENTERS 
OF EXCELLENCE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 73 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after section 7330D 
the following new section: 
‘‘§ 7330E. Innovative therapies centers of excellence 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF CENTERS.—(1) The Sec-
retary, upon the recommendation of the Under Secretary 
for Health, shall designate not less than five Department 
medical facilities as the locations for innovative therapies 
centers of excellence. 
‘‘(2) Subject to the availability of appropriations for 
such purpose, the Secretary shall establish and operate in-
novative therapies centers of excellence at the locations 
designated pursuant to paragraph (1). 
‘‘(b) GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF FACILITIES.— 
In designating Department medical facilities as centers of 
excellence under subsection (a), the Secretary, upon the 
recommendation of the Under Secretary for Health, shall 
assure appropriate geographic distribution of such facili-
ties. 
‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR DESIGNATION.—(1) The 
Secretary may not designate a Department medical facil-
ity as a location for a center under subsection (a) unless 
the peer review panel established under subsection (d) has 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
02:58 Apr 09, 2025
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2623.IH
H2623
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
determined under that subsection that the proposal sub-
mitted by such facility as a location for a new center under 
subsection (a) is among those proposals that meet the 
highest competitive standards of scientific and clinical 
merit. 
‘‘(2) The Secretary may not designate a Department 
medical facility as a location for a center under subsection 
(a) unless the Secretary, upon the recommendation of the 
Under Secretary for Health, determines that the facility 
has, or may reasonably be anticipated to develop, each of 
the following: 
‘‘(A) An arrangement with an— 
‘‘(i) accredited medical school that provides 
education and training in innovative therapies 
and with which the Department medical facility 
is affiliated under which residents receive edu-
cation and training in use of innovative thera-
pies to treat covered conditions; 
‘‘(ii) an accredited school of psychiatry; 
and 
‘‘(iii) an accredited school of social work. 
‘‘(B) The ability to attract the participation of 
scientists who are capable of ingenuity and creativity 
in medical research efforts. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
02:58 Apr 09, 2025
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2623.IH
H2623
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
‘‘(C) An advisory committee composed of vet-
erans and appropriate medical and research rep-
resentatives of the Department medical facility and 
of the affiliated school or schools to advise the direc-
tors of such facility and such center on policy mat-
ters pertaining to the activities of the center during 
the period of the operation of such center. 
‘‘(D) The capability to conduct effectively eval-
uations of the activities of such center. 
‘‘(E) The capability to coordinate (as part of an 
integrated national system) education, clinical, and 
research activities within all facilities with such cen-
ters. 
‘‘(F) The capability to jointly develop a consor-
tium of providers with interest in treating covered 
conditions with innovative therapies at Department 
facilities without such centers in order to ensure bet-
ter access to state-of-the-art diagnosis, care, and 
education for innovative therapies throughout the 
medical system of the Department. 
‘‘(G) The capability to develop a national repos-
itory in the medical system of the Department for 
the collection of data on health services delivered to 
veterans seeking innovative therapies. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
02:58 Apr 09, 2025
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2623.IH
H2623
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
‘‘(d) PEER REVIEW PANEL.—(1) The Under Sec-
retary for Health shall establish a panel to assess the sci-
entific and clinical merit of proposals that are submitted 
to the Secretary for the establishment of centers under 
this section. 
‘‘(2)(A) The membership of the panel shall consist 
of experts in innovative therapies. 
‘‘(B) Members of the panel shall serve for a period 
of no longer than two years, except as specified in sub-
paragraph (C). 
‘‘(C) Of the members first appointed to the panel, 
one half shall be appointed for a period of three years and 
one half shall be appointed for a period of two years, as 
designated by the Under Secretary at the time of appoint-
ment. 
‘‘(3) The panel shall review each proposal submitted 
to the panel by the Under Secretary and shall submit its 
views on the relative scientific and clinical merit of each 
such proposal to the Under Secretary. 
‘‘(4) The panel shall not be subject to chapter 10 of 
title 5. 
‘‘(e) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than two years 
after the date of the enactment of this section, and annu-
ally thereafter, the Under Secretary of Health shall submit 
to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
02:58 Apr 09, 2025
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2623.IH
H2623
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB