HF 2342 (LSB 5503YH (2) 83)

HOUSE FILE 2342

BY  HEATON

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to the establishment of an advanced registered nurse practitioner mental health fellowship program, and providing for contingent implementation.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  NEW SECTION.  135.178  Advanced registered nurse practitioner mental health fellowship program —— repeal.
   1.  The department, in cooperation with the college student aid commission, shall establish an advanced registered nurse practitioner mental health fellowship program in accordance with this section. Funding for the program may be provided through the health care workforce shortage fund or the advanced registered nurse practitioner mental health fellowship program account created in section 135.175. The purpose of the program is to determine the effect of specialized training and support for advanced registered nurse practitioners in providing mental health services on addressing Iowa’s shortage of mental health professionals. 
   2.  The program shall provide for all of the following:
   a.  Collaboration with a hospital serving a thirteen-county area in central Iowa that provides a clinic at the Iowa veterans home, a private nonprofit agency headquartered in a city with a population of more than one hundred ninety thousand that operates a freestanding psychiatric medical institution for children, a private university with a medical school educating osteopathic physicians located in a city with a population of more than one hundred ninety thousand, the Iowa veterans home, and any other clinical partner designated for the program. Population figures used in this paragraph refer to the most recent certified federal census. The clinical partners shall provide supervision, clinical experience, training, and other support for the program and advanced registered nurse practitioner students participating in the program. 
   b.  Elderly, youth, and general population clinical experiences. 
   c.  A fellowship of twelve months for three advanced registered nurse practitioner students, annually. 
   d.  Supervision of students participating in the program provided by the university and the other clinical partners participating in the program. 
   e.  A student participating in the program shall be eligible for a stipend of not more than fifty thousand dollars for the twelve months of the fellowship plus related fringe benefits. In addition, a student who completes the program and practices in Iowa in a mental health professional shortage area, as defined in section 135.80, shall be eligible for up to twenty thousand dollars in loan forgiveness. The stipend and loan forgiveness provisions shall be determined by the department and the college student aid commission, in consultation with the clinical partners. 
   f.  The state and private entity clinical partners shall regularly evaluate and document their experiences with the approaches utilized and outcomes achieved by the program to identify an optimal model for operating the program. The evaluation process shall include but is not limited to identifying ways the program’s clinical and training components could be modified to facilitate other student and practicing advanced registered nurse practitioners specializing as mental health professionals. 
   3.  This section is repealed June 30, 2014.
    Sec. 2.  Section 135.175, subsection 1, paragraph a, Code Supplement 2009, is amended to read as follows:
   a.  A health care workforce support initiative is established to provide for the coordination and support of various efforts to address the health care workforce shortage in this state. This initiative shall include the medical residency training state matching grants program created in section 135.176, the health care professional and nursing workforce shortage initiative created in sections 261.128 and 261.129, the safety net provider recruitment and retention initiatives program created in section 135.153A, health care workforce shortage national initiatives, and the physician assistant mental health fellowship program created in section 135.177, and the advanced registered nurse practitioner mental health fellowship program created in section 135.178.
    Sec. 3.  Section 135.175, subsection 5, Code Supplement 2009, is amended by adding the following new paragraph:
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  f.  The advanced registered nurse practitioner mental health fellowship program account. The advanced registered nurse practitioner mental health fellowship program account shall be under the control of the department and the moneys in the account shall be used for the purposes of the advanced registered nurse practitioner mental health fellowship program as specified in section 135.178. Moneys in the account shall consist of moneys appropriated or allocated for deposit in or received by the fund or the account and specifically dedicated to the advanced registered nurse practitioner mental health fellowship program or the account for the purposes of the account.
    Sec. 4.  IMPLEMENTATION.  This Act shall be implemented only to the extent funding is available.
EXPLANATION
   This bill creates an advanced registered nurse practitioner (ARNP) mental health fellowship program as part of the health care workforce support initiative to provide for the coordination and support of various efforts to address the health care workforce shortage in this state. The bill directs the department of public health, in cooperation with the college student aid commission, to establish an ARNP mental health fellowship program, funding for which may be provided through the existing health care workforce shortage fund or the advanced registered nurse practitioner mental health fellowship program account created in the bill. The purpose of the program is to determine the effect of specialized training and support for ARNPs in providing mental health services on addressing Iowa’s shortage of mental health professionals. The bill specifies the parameters of the program, and provides for the repeal of the program June 30, 2014. The bill also creates an advanced registered nursed practitioner mental health fellowship program account within the health care workforce shortage fund. The advanced registered nurse practitioner mental health fellowship program account is under the control of the department of public health and the moneys in the account are to be used for the purposes of the advanced registered nurse practitioner mental health fellowship program as specified. Moneys in the account consist of moneys appropriated or allocated for deposit in or received by the fund or the account and specifically dedicated to the advanced registered nurse practitioner mental health fellowship program or the account for the purposes of the account.
   The bill provides that implementation of the program is contingent upon availability of funding.