Section 590.140  Selection Criteria

a)         Priority in the selection of projects for funding shall be given to those projects that demonstrate the greatest impact on availability of health care in HPSAs for the amount awarded. The impact shall be demonstrated in the following order:

1)         Applicants that are located in HPSAs or that can objectively demonstrate that a significant percentage of patients served at their existing medical facilities reside in HPSAs;

2)         Applicants that have presented a plan to significantly increase the number of individuals residing in HPSAs who will become actual patients at the proposed project;

3)         The business experience and track record of the applicant and its executives and managers.

b)         Applicants that demonstrate the greatest level of resident involvement in the proposed project shall receive priority consideration.

c)         Applicants that demonstrate that the proposed project meets an educational need not available or insufficient in scope at the main residency location will receive priority consideration.

d)         Applicants that demonstrate a commitment to training eligible health care providers to meet the health care needs in HPSAs will receive priority consideration. A commitment can be demonstrated by the following:

1)         Specific projects or activities targeted at populations residing in HPSAs that were supported by sources other than Underserved Physician Workforce Act grant funds;

2)         Evidence of residency support, either financial or peer, for its graduates who have established practices in HPSAs; and

3)         A higher percentage of residency graduates who have established practices in HPSAs in Illinois.

e)         Additional consideration shall be given for those projects meeting any of the following guidelines:

1)         preference for programs that are to be established at locations that exhibit potential for extending eligible health care provider availability to HPSAs (Section 4.02(a) of the Act);

2)         preference for programs that are located away from communities in which medical schools and satellite facilities are located (Section 4.02(b) of the Act); and

3)         preference for programs located in hospitals having affiliation agreements with medical schools located within the State

(Section 4.02(c) of the Act).  

f)         In distributing the funds, the Department may also consider as secondary criteria whether a residency program has:

1)         Adequate courses of instruction in the behavioral sciences (Section 4.02(c)(1) of the Act);

2)         Availability and systematic utilization of opportunities for residents to gain experience through local health departments or other preventive or occupational medical facilities (Section 4.02(c)(2) of the Act);

3)         A continuing program of community-oriented research in such areas as risk factors in community populations, immunization levels, environmental hazards, or occupational hazards (Section 4.02(c)(3) of the Act);

4)         Sufficient mechanisms for maintenance of quality training, such as peer review, systematic progress reviews, referral system, and maintenance of adequate records (Section 4.02(c)(4) of the Act); and

5)         An appropriate course of instruction in societal, institutional, and economic conditions affecting a rural health care practice (Section 4.02(c)(5) of the Act).

g)         Selection criteria may be applied with advice of, and in consultation with, the Advisory Committee.

h)         Once the Department determines that applications are complete, grant proposals will be forwarded to the Department's grant review committee for consideration.

(Source:  Amended at 44 Ill. Reg. 20074, effective December 9, 2020)