HB 5053

Abstract

Creates the Psychiatry Practice Incentive Act. Provides for the establishment by the Department of Public Health of a program under which programs of grants, loans, and loan forgiveness are established to recruit and retain psychiatric service providers in designated shortage areas of the State. Sets forth the powers and duties of the Department in the establishment and administration of the programs. Requires the Department to annually report to the General Assembly and the Governor the results and progress of all programs established under the Act. Sets forth penalties for a recipient of assistance under a program who fails to fulfill his or her practice obligation under the Act. Amends the Family Practice Residency Act. Provides that any monetary penalties imposed after December 31, 2009 and before the effective date of the amendatory Act upon a scholarship recipient who has been found by the Department of Public Health to have failed to fulfill his or her obligation under the Act, but who has been practicing as a psychiatrist within a designated shortage area during that time, must be declared null and void by the Department, and any payments made to the Department by the scholarship recipient must be returned to that scholarship recipient within a reasonable amount of time, as determined by the Department.