Public Act 101-0273
 
HB2896 EnrolledLRB101 08618 CPF 53698 b


  
    AN ACT concerning State government.
  
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:
  
 
 
    Section 5. The Department of Public Health Powers and 
Duties Law of the
Civil Administrative Code of Illinois is 
amended  by adding Section 2310-213 as follows:
 
    (20 ILCS 2310/2310-213 new)
    Sec. 2310-213. Diversity in Health Care Professions Task 
Force.
    (a) The Diversity in Health Care Professions Task Force is 
created.  The Director shall serve as the chairperson and shall 
appoint the following members to the Task Force, licensed to 
practice in their respective fields in Illinois:
        (1) 2 dentists.
        (2) 2 medical doctors.
        (3) 2 nurses.
        (4) 2 optometrists.
        (5) 2 pharmacists.
        (6) 2 physician assistants.
        (7) 2 podiatrists.
        (8) 2 public health practitioners.
    (b) The Task Force has the following objectives:
        (1) Minority students pursuing medicine or healthcare 
    as a career option. The goal is to diversify the health 
    care workforce by engaging students, parents, and the 
    community to build an infrastructure that assists students 
    in developing the skills necessary for careers in 
    healthcare.
        (2) Establishing a mentee/mentor relationship with 
    current healthcare professionals and students, utilizing 
    social media to communicate important messages and success 
    stories, and holding a conference related to diversity and 
    inclusion in healthcare professions.
        (3) Early employment and support, including (i) 
    researching and leveraging best practices, including 
    recruitment, retention, orientation, workplace diversity, 
    and inclusion training, (ii) identifying barriers to 
    inclusion and retention, and (iii) proposing solutions.
        (4) Healthcare leadership and succession planning, 
    including:
            (A) providing education, resources and tool kits 
        to fully support, implement, and cultivate diversity 
        and inclusion in Illinois health-related professions 
        through coordination of resources from professional 
        health care leadership organizations;
            (B) developing healthy work environments, 
        leadership training on culture, diversity, and 
        inclusion; and
            (C) obtaining workforce development concentrated 
        on graduate and post-graduate education and succession 
        planning.
    (c) The Task Force may collaborate with policy makers, 
medical and specialty societies, national minority 
organizations, and other groups to achieve greater diversity in 
medicine and the health professions.
    The Task Force's priorities are: 
        (1) Affirmative action programs should be designed to 
    promote the entry of racial and ethnic minority students 
    into medical school, as well as other specialized training 
    programs for other health professions.
        (2) Recruitment activities should support and advocate 
    for the full spectrum of racial, ethnic, and cultural 
    diversity, including language, national origin, and 
    religion within the healthcare profession.  These 
    activities should maintain the high quality of the health 
    care workforce and encourage individuals from all 
    backgrounds to enter careers in healthcare.
        (3) Recruitment and academic preparations of 
    underrepresented minority students should begin in 
    elementary school and continue through the entire scope of 
    their education and professional formation.  Efforts to 
    recruit minority students into the various health care 
    professions should be targeted appropriately at each 
    educational level.
        (4) Financial incentives should be increased to 
    minority students, including federal funding for diversity 
    programs, such as  Title VII funding, loan forgiveness or 
    repayment programs, and tuition reimbursement.
        (5) Enhancing diversity within the healthcare 
    workforce will require a commitment at the highest levels.  
    To put this commitment into practice, educational and 
    healthcare institutions, medical organizations, and other 
    relevant bodies should hire staff who are responsible 
    solely for the implementation, management, and evaluation 
    of diversity programs and who are accountable to the 
    organizational leadership.  These programs should be 
    integrated into the organization's operations and provided 
    with an infrastructure adequate to implement and measure 
    the effectiveness of their activities.
        (6) Institutional commitments to improve workforce 
    diversity must include a formal program or mechanism to 
    ensure that racial, ethnic, and cultural minority 
    individuals rise to leadership positions at all levels.
        (7) Organizations with a stake in enhancing workforce 
    diversity should implement systems to track data and 
    information on race, ethnicity, and other cultural 
    attributes.
    (d) Task Force members shall serve without compensation but 
may be reimbursed for their expenses incurred in performing 
their duties.  The Task Force shall meet at least quarterly and 
at other times as called by the chairperson.
    (e) The Department of Public Health shall provide 
administrative and other support to the Task Force.
    (f)  The Task Force shall prepare a report that summarizes 
its work and makes recommendations resulting from its study. 
The Task Force shall submit the report of its findings and 
recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly by 
December 1, 2020 and annually thereafter.