Expanding the Health Care Workforce Act

The Secretary shall establish a demonstration project (in this section referred to as the Demonstration Project) to make grants to eligible entities to—

(1) create, develop, expand, or scale a curriculum in a secondary school that implements a work-based learning program;

(2) develop or expand an educational curriculum that promotes the matriculation of students enrolled in secondary school to—

(A) employment in the health care workforce; or

(B) an educational program in a health care–related field;

(3) promote an educational curriculum that encourages student attendance and community engagement; and

(4) ensure the health and well-being of the community of the eligible entity by strengthening the health care workforce.

An eligible entity shall use a grant under this section to develop or expand a program that—

(1) provides students with work-based learning opportunities in an eligible hospital—

(A) during a student’s first year enrolled in the program, for at least 20 hours;

(B) during a student’s second year enrolled in the program, for at least 20 hours;

(C) during a student’s third year enrolled in the program, for at least 30 hours;

(D) during a student’s fourth year enrolled in the program, for at least 100 hours; and

(E) during a student’s fifth year (or any subsequent year) enrolled in the program, an appropriate amount of work-based learning as determined by the eligible entity;

(2) has a written partnership agreement with a secondary school to provide work-based learning;

(3) provides a comprehensive high school education that leads to the conferral of a high school diploma, as defined by State law;

(4) provides college planning services and career planning services; and

(5) provides education on appropriate health care topics that would facilitate entry to the health care workforce or an educational program in a health care–related field, including age-appropriate clinical interactions and coursework in preparation to take a licensing or certification examination required to enter the health care workforce.

A grant under this section shall be for a period of not less than 4 and not more than 6 years.

A grant under this section shall be disbursed during such period on the schedule and in the increments described in the budget and budget narrative submitted by the eligible entity receiving the grant under subsection (e)(2).

The Secretary shall award grants under this section to at least 20 eligible entities, divided equally among the 10 regions of the United States described in subparagraph (B).

The regions described in this subparagraph are the following:

(i) Region 1: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

(ii) Region 2: New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

(iii) Region 3: Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.

(iv) Region 4: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

(v) Region 5: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

(vi) Region 6: Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.

(vii) Region 7: Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska.

(viii) Region 8: Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.

(ix) Region 9: Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Marshall Islands, and Republic of Palau.

(x) Region 10: Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.

Of the grants made by the Secretary under this section, at least 25 percent of the total number of such grants shall be to expand programs established before the date of enactment of this section.

In making grants under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to any eligible entity that—

(1) serves a medically underserved population;

(2) is located in a medically underserved community; or

(3) is a multi-mission hospital, a vulnerable community hospital, or an endangered small rural hospital, as determined by the Secretary.

To be eligible to receive a grant under this section, an eligible entity shall submit to the Secretary an application at such time and in such manner as the Secretary may reasonably require. The application shall include—

(1) a description of the curriculum to be used in the program to be funded by the grant;

(2) a budget and budget narrative for such program;

(3) an explanation of how the curriculum of such program will promote the matriculation of secondary students in employment in the health care workforce or an educational program in a health care–related field;

(4) an explanation of how such program to be funded by the grant will promote student attendance, community engagement, and successful completion of the requirements of such program;

(5) a letter of support from the lead State health or human services agency for the State in which the eligible entity is located that certifies that there exists a need for a such a program in the community of the eligible entity; and

(6) an explanation of how such program intends to improve the educational outcomes of the students of the eligible entity compared to other students in the county of the eligible entity.

Not less than annually, an eligible entity receiving a grant under this section shall submit to the Secretary, in such form and manner as the Secretary may reasonably require, a report that includes the following information with respect to the preceding school year:

(A) The number of students enrolled in the program funded by the grant.

(B) The number of students who graduated from such program.

(C) The number of students who are truant, as defined by the secondary school’s accrediting body or the State.

(D) The four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate and extended-year adjusted cohort graduation rate of such program.

(E) The average daily attendance of such program.

(F) The number and percentage of students entering post-secondary education, separated by those who enter into an educational program in a health care–related field and those who do not.

(G) The number and percentage of students entering the workforce, separated by those who enter the health care workforce and those who do not.

(H) Any other information the Secretary determines necessary to ensure the adequate evaluation of the Demonstration Project.

Not later than 5 years after the date on which a grant is first made to an eligible entity under this section, the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Education, shall submit to Congress a report on the results of the Demonstration Project. Such report shall include—

(A) a list of eligible entities that have received a grant under this section, including the primary geographic location of each such eligible entity;

(B) the total number and demographic profile of students who are enrolled in a program funded by a grant under this section;

(C) the total number of students who participated in such a program and who matriculated into an educational program in a health care–related field or gained employment in the health care workforce;

(D) the four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate and extended-year adjusted cohort graduation rate of each such program, compared to other secondary schools in each county of such programs;

(E) the effects of the Demonstration Project on the health care workforce;

(F) recommendations for improving the Demonstration Project; and

(G) other information or metrics that the Secretary determines necessary for Congress to evaluate the success of the Demonstration Project.

In this section:

The term educational program in a health care–related field means any accredited or certified educational program that permits an individual to gain employment in the health care workforce.

The term eligible entity means an eligible hospital that has a formal written partnership with a secondary school.

The term eligible hospital means—

(A) a hospital (as defined in section 1861(e) of the Social Security Act); and

(B) a hospital that provides complex, comprehensive, high-acuity care, as determined by the Secretary.

The terms average daily attendance, extended-year adjusted cohort graduation rate, four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate, and secondary school have the meanings given to such terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

The term health care workforce has the meaning given to the term in section 5101(i) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

The term medically underserved community has the meaning given to the term in section 799B(6) of the Public Health Service Act.

The term medically underserved population has the meaning given to the term in section 330(b)(3) of the Public Health Service Act.

The term work-based learning has the meaning given to the term in section 3(55) of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006.

The authority of the Secretary to make grants under this section shall cease on the date that is 6 years after the date on which the Secretary establishes the Demonstration Project.

There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section for fiscal year 2025 and each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years.