Title 7 — Human Health Care and Safety.

For the purposes of this chapter, the term: (a)(1) “Commercial loans” means loans made by banks, credit unions, savings and loan associations, insurance companies, schools, and either financial or credit institutions that are subject to examination and supervision in their capaci…

(a) There is hereby established the District of Columbia Health Professional Recruitment Program (“Program”) to serve as a recruitment tool for health professionals within the District of Columbia. (b) Based on the availability of funds, the Program will pay for the cost of educa…

(a) The Department of Health shall administer the Program and shall: (1) Establish an application process; (2) Certify a list of acceptable service obligation sites on an annual basis and make the list publically available; (3) Conduct regular surveys to ensure participant compli…

Individuals eligible for the Program must: (a) Be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States; (b) Be a physician, dentist, or other health professional as defined in § 7-751.01; (c) Be licensed or eligible to practice in the District of Columbia; (d) Submit a completed …

(a) Any applicant to the Program shall agree to execute a release to allow the Department access to loan records, credit information, and information from lenders necessary to verify eligibility and to determine loan repayments. The applicant is required to submit all requested l…

(a) Applicants shall be competitively reviewed and selected for participation in the Program based upon the following criteria: (1) Professional qualifications and relevant experience, including board eligibility or certification in his or her specialty, professional achievements…

(a) As a condition of participation in the Program, selected applicants shall enter into a contract with the Director and a representative of the service obligation site agreeing to the following terms and conditions: (1) Participants shall provide a minimum of 2 years with a max…

(a) Physicians and dentists shall be eligible to have 100% of their total debt, not to exceed $120,000, repaid by the Program over 4 years of service. For each year of participation, the Program will repay loan amounts according to the following schedule: (1) For the 1st year of …

(a) The Department of Health shall disburse loan repayment funds to a participant in a 2-year lump sum payment for each contract entered into pursuant to § 7-751.07 within 90 days of the start of the performance under the contract. (b) For each year of participation beyond the or…

Each participant is responsible for negotiating his or her own compensation package directly with the service obligation site.

(a) Repealed. (b) For purposes of the District of Columbia Office of Tax and Revenue, all loan repayment awards shall not be considered income and are therefore not taxable.

(a) Participants are required to submit service verification forms to the Department of Health at the conclusion of each 6-month period of participation in the Program. Service verification forms shall contain the following: (1) A statement attesting to continuous full-time servi…

(a) The following shall constitute a breach of contract: (1) The failure to begin or complete the required period of service obligation as set forth in the Program contract; (2) The falsification or misrepresentation of information on the Program application, service verification…

(a) Any change of service obligation site by a Program participant must receive prior authorization from the Director. (b) If the employment of a participant is terminated for reasons beyond the participant’s control, such as, for example, the closure of a service obligation site…

(a)(1) The service obligation of a participant may be suspended without penalty, for a limited period of time, if a participant requires leave beyond the allotted 7 weeks, such as, for example, extended illness, family leave, maternity leave, suspension from practice pending an i…

(a) There is established as a nonlapsing fund the Health Professional Recruitment Fund (“Fund”). All funds deposited into the Fund, and any interest earned on those funds, shall not revert to the unrestricted fund balance of the General Fund of the District of Columbia at the end…

The Mayor is authorized to promulgate rules necessary to implement this chapter.

Repealed Repealed.