2019 New York Laws
PBH - Public Health
Article 9 - Primary Care Education and Training
904 - Primary Care Practitioner Scholarship Program.

§   904.   Primary  care  practitioner  scholarship  program.  1.  The
commissioner, in collaboration with the commissioner  of  education  and
the   president   of  the  higher  education  services  corporation,  is
authorized  and  directed  to  establish  a  primary  care  practitioner
scholarship  program to provide financial support to applicants to enter
or continue in a primary care practitioner  program  and  who  agree  to
serve in underserved areas of New York state.
  2.  The  commissioner is authorized, within amounts available pursuant
to subdivision nineteen-a of section twenty-eight  hundred  seven-c  and
section   twenty-eight   hundred   seven-l  of  this  chapter,  to  make
scholarship awards pursuant to this section.
  3. A scholarship recipient shall (a) be a resident of New  York  state
who  attends or plans to attend a primary care practitioner program; and
(b) agree to practice as a primary care practitioner in  an  underserved
area of New York state.
  4.  In selecting students to be awarded scholarships, preference shall
be given to students who  attend  or  plan  to  attend  a  primary  care
practitioner  program  located  in  New  York  state.  Priority  in  the
selection of recipients shall be given to recipients applying for second
year  funding.  Scholarships  shall  be  awarded   competitively   using
selection  criteria  that  include,  but  are  not  limited to: academic
performance, previous work experience in their chosen profession, and  a
demonstrated   interest   or  commitment  in  working  with  underserved
populations or in underserved areas.
  5. Within such time as the commissioner shall by regulation provide, a
recipient of an award shall agree to practice in an underserved area  of
this  state  for a period of eighteen months for each annual award to be
received by the recipient. In no case shall the total number  of  months
of  service  be  less  than eighteen. The commissioner shall secure from
each recipient a written agreement to:
  (a) provide primary care services in an area designated  as  having  a
shortage of primary care practitioners;
  (b)  work  in  a  practice  site  that  accepts  payment  on behalf of
beneficiaries  of  title  XVIII  of  the  federal  social  security  act
(medicare)  and  individuals eligible for medical assistance pursuant to
title eleven of article five of the social services law; and
  (c) provide thirty-five hours per week of direct patient care  in  the
designated shortage area being served.
  6.  If  a  recipient  fails  to comply fully with such conditions, the
president shall be entitled to receive from such recipient an amount  to
be determined by the formula:
 
                               A = 2B(t-s)
                                  -----
                                    t
 
in  which "A" is the amount the president is entitled to recover, "B" is
the sum of all awards made to the recipient and  the  interest  on  such
amount which would be payable if at the times such awards were paid they
were  loans  bearing interest at the maximum prevailing rate; "t" is the
total number of months in the recipient's period of obligated  services;
and  "s"  is  the  number  of months of service actually rendered by the
recipient. Any amount which the president is entitled to  recover  under
this  paragraph  shall  be paid within the five-year period beginning on
the  date  that  the  recipient  failed  to  comply  with  this  service
condition.  Nothing  in  the written agreement shall affect the terms of
employment of the individual who shall  negotiate,  separate  and  apart
from  the  program, his or her salary and other forms of employment with

an agency, institution or  a  program  in  which  he  or  she  shall  be
employed.  Any  obligation to comply with such provisions as outlined in
this section shall be canceled upon the  death  of  the  recipient.  The
commissioner  shall  promulgate regulations to provide for the waiver or
suspension of any financial obligation  when  compliance  would  involve
extreme hardship.
  7. A recipient of an award shall report annually to the New York state
higher  education  services  corporation,  on  forms  prescribed  by the
president, as to the performance of the  required  services,  commencing
with  the calendar year in which the recipient begins to provide primary
care services in an underserved area and continuing until the  recipient
shall have completed, or until it is determined that he or she shall not
be  obligated to complete, the required services. If the recipient shall
fail to file any report required hereunder within thirty days of written
notice to the recipient,  mailed  to  the  address  shown  on  the  last
application  for  an award or last report filed, whichever is later, the
president of the corporation may impose a fine of  up  to  one  thousand
dollars.  The president shall have the discretion to waive the filing of
a report, excuse a delay in filing or a failure to  file  a  report,  or
waive or reduce any fine imposed for good cause shown.
  8.  The  commissioner  is  authorized to apply any funds available for
purposes of subdivision two of this section for use  as  matching  funds
for  the  federal  community  scholarship  programs  grants  pursuant to
section three hundred thirty-eight L of the public health service act.