Section 582.110  Application Procedure

a)         Any person or organization, public or private, desiring to receive loan repayment funds, must submit an application to the Department.  Applications for loan funds shall be made on prescribed forms developed by the Department.  (Section 4(a) of the Illinois Grant Funds Recovery Act)  Applications can be submitted at:

https://idph.illinois.gov/nespmis/SLRPInformation/Show-SLRPInformation.aspx.

b)         The following are eligible to apply for loan repayment assistance:

1)         A health care professional or one who can be expected to be licensed in Illinois and who intends to practice in a medical facility in an HPSA in Illinois; or

2)         A medical facility that is located in an HPSA in Illinois.  If loan repayment funds are awarded to the medical facility, it shall forward those funds to the health care professional employed at the medical facility to pay educational debt.

c)         Completed applications shall be submitted to the Department.

d)         Health care professionals shall document current educational loan debt owed to a governmental or commercial lending institution incurred for expenses in pursuit of the applicant's medical, dental or other health care professional degree.  For each loan that is being submitted for consideration, the applicant shall provide an account statement, which provides current information on a qualifying educational loan.  The account statement must:

1)         Be on official letterhead or other clear verification that it came from the lender;

2)         Include the name of the borrower;

3)         Include the date of the statement (date cannot be more than 30 calendar days from the date of application submission); and

4)         Include the current outstanding balance (principal and interest) or the current payoff balance.

e)         Health care professionals not yet in practice, or not yet in practice at a medical facility in an HPSA in Illinois, shall document intent to practice in an HPSA by written confirmation from the medical facility within the HPSA.

f)         If an applicant intends to work at more than one medical facility (e.g., several satellite clinics), each location shall be in an HPSA in Illinois.

g)         If an applicant intends to work for more than one employer, each employers' medical facility shall be in an HPSA in Illinois.

h)         The medical facility shall agree to employ the health care professional for a minimum of two years and shall document a willingness to pay up to 50% of the health care professional's loan repayment award.

i)          The medical facility shall provide a written statement that the salary offered to the health care professional is at a level equivalent to that offered to other health care professionals with equivalent skills and experience recruited by the medical facility.

j)          The medical facility shall provide a written statement attesting that loan repayment funds will not be used as a salary offset to the health care professional.

(Source:  Amended at 47 Ill. Reg. 13300, effective August 29, 2023)