N.Y. Public Health Law § 233: New York state health service corps scholarship and fellowship program

* § 233. New York state health service corps scholarship and

fellowship program. 1. (a) New York state health service corps

scholarships and fellowships for health corps professionals shall be

awarded, within amounts appropriated, on a competitive basis, as

determined by the commissioner, to students who: (i) are or will be

enrolled in a program of undergraduate or graduate study to become a

health care professional eligible to participate in the health service

corps; and

(ii) agree to serve in eligible institutions or facilities upon

satisfactory completion of their studies and upon satisfaction of

applicable licensing and certification requirements; and

(iii) meet such other requirements as the commissioner, in

consultation with the commissioners of education, correctional services,

mental health, mental retardation and developmental disabilities, the

commission for the blind and visually handicapped and the president of

the civil service commission, may establish.

(b) In selecting students to be awarded such scholarships or

fellowships, preference shall be given to students in the following

order: (i) New York state residents who attend or plan to attend a

program of undergraduate or graduate study located in New York state;

(ii) New York state residents who attend or plan to attend a program of

undergraduate or graduate study located out-of-state; and (iii) persons

who are not residents of New York state who attend or plan to attend a

program of undergraduate or graduate study located in New York state.

(c) The commissioner shall, pursuant to agreement with the appropriate

agency, allocate, to the extent possible, the placement of award

recipients to each catchment area or region, as defined by such agency,

in which an eligible institution or facility is located.

2. Within such time as the commissioner shall by regulation provide, a

recipient of an award shall have practiced as a health corps

professional in an eligible institution or facility for that number of

months calculated by multiplying by eighteen the number of annual awards

received by the recipient. 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 payments 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 subdivision shall be paid within the five-year period beginning on

the date that the recipient failed to comply with this condition. Any

obligation to comply with such provisions shall be cancelled upon the

death of the recipient. The commissioner of health shall promulgate

regulations to provide for the waiver or suspension of any financial

obligation when compliance would involve extreme hardship.

3. A recipient of an award shall report semi-annually to the

president, on forms prescribed by him, as to the performance of the

required services or the recipient's current status, commencing with the

calendar year of the first award and continuing until the recipient

shall have completed, or until it is determined he or she shall not be

obligated to complete, the required services. The president may also

require the recipient to file a report on his or her current status

prior to completion of professional training during any calendar year in

which an application for an additional award is not filed. The president

shall make available any reports required hereunder to the commissioner.

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 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.

* NB Expired July 18, 1996