SB2666 - Relating to the establishment of a grant program to allow the Nueces County Hospital District to recruit and retain certain medical professionals.

  89R9597 MPF-F     By: Hinojosa of Hidalgo S.B. No. 2666       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to the establishment of a grant program to allow the Nueces   County Hospital District to recruit and retain certain medical   professionals.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Section 281.094(b), Health and Safety Code, is   amended to read as follows:          (b)  The board of the Nueces County Hospital District may use   funds made available to the district from any source to fund:                (1)  indigent health care; [ and ]                (2)  intergovernmental transfers from the district to   the state for use as the nonfederal share of Medicaid supplemental   payment program or waiver program payments for eligible health care   providers located inside or outside the district's boundaries,   including, but not limited to, any payments available through a   waiver granted under Section 1115, Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.   Section 1315), or other similar payment programs, subject to the   limitation prescribed by Subsection (c) ; and                 (3)     the grant program established under Section   281.0941 .          SECTION 2.  Subchapter E, Chapter 281, Health and Safety   Code, is amended by adding Section 281.0941 to read as follows:           Sec.   281.0941.     NUECES COUNTY HOSPITAL DISTRICT GRANT   PROGRAM. (a) The board of the Nueces County Hospital District   shall establish and administer a grant program for hospitals   located in the hospital district to provide the funding necessary   to:                 (1)  allow hospitals in the district to:                       (A)     retain physicians currently practicing at   those hospitals; and                       (B)     recruit physicians who practice medicine in a   specialty for which there is limited access in the hospital   district to practice at those hospitals; and                 (2)     increase the number of residency positions at   hospitals in the district.           (b)  The board of the hospital district shall:                 (1)     prescribe the manner in which a hospital in the   district may apply for a grant under this section;                 (2)     establish eligibility and selection criteria for a   hospital to be awarded a grant under this section; and                 (3)     establish accountability controls for hospitals   awarded a grant under this section to ensure:                       (A)     the grant is used in a manner that is   consistent with the public purpose of providing medical and   hospital care for the indigent residents of the district; and                       (B)     the district receives a benefit in return for   the award of the grant.          SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.