Section 594.230  Selection Criteria for Distribution of Loan Repayment Funds

a)         One-third of the available funds will be used for educational loan repayment of physician assistants and advanced practice nurses, if applications are sufficient in number to warrant the amount.

b)         When numbers of applications are sufficient to support a geographical separation into urban and rural groupings, an equal number of applicants will be selected from each of the groups.

c)         When numbers of applications are sufficient, an equal number of applicants shall be selected from Chicago and from the remaining urban areas of the State.

d)         Within the geographical considerations, preference shall be given to applications from providers who will be working at sites that are serving a large minority population, in rural areas with ongoing problems recruiting providers, and migrant and community health centers.

e)         Preference shall be given to applications from those providers who have been recruited by, or are actively involved with, a community-based organization or group having as one of its goals the improvement or maintenance of the availability and accessibility of primary health care in its area.

f)         When all other selection criteria are essentially equal among a group of applicants, preference will be given to the applicant with the greater educational indebtedness.

g)         Applications shall have the following priority classifications applied to the location and other characteristics of the practice:

1)         Higher population-to-primary care physician ratio, new provider to area, and endorsement by community-based group or organization.

2)         Applicant in practice 6 months or less, higher ratio of population-to-primary care physician, and endorsement by community-based group or organization.

3)         Applicant new to area or in practice 6 months or less, but no endorsement by community-based group or organization.

h)         Applications shall be accepted between July 1 and September 30 and considered for funding according to the criteria described in this Section. If all funds are not expended, subsequent application cycles will occur on a quarterly basis until all funds are obligated.

i)          Applicants who have previously received funding will be given priority consideration for continued participation in the program.

(Source:  Amended at 25 Ill. Reg. 14507, effective November 1, 2001)