A Bill for an Act
Page 1, Line 101Concerning the creation of a graduate medical education
Page 1, Line 102grant program.
Bill Summary
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does not reflect any amendments that may be subsequently adopted. If this bill passes third reading in the house of introduction, a bill summary that applies to the reengrossed version of this bill will be available at http://leg.colorado.gov.)
The bill creates the graduate medical education grant program (grant program) in the health facilities and emergency medical services division (division) within the department of public health and environment (department). The purpose of the grant program is to support the establishment of accredited residency programs at health-care facilities in Colorado that have never had a physician resident training program in order to expand physician training capacity and address the state's physician workforce shortage.
The division shall engage stakeholders, including representatives from for-profit and not-for-profit medical schools, to recommend criteria for grant eligibility and other aspects of the grant award and reporting process.
The department may seek, accept, and expend gifts, grants, or donations from private or public sources for purposes related to the grant program. The bill requires the department to include information about the grant program's role in creating new medical residency programs in the department's "SMART Act" hearings.
Page 2, Line 1Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:
Page 2, Line 2SECTION 1. In Colorado Revised Statutes, add 25-3-132 as follows:
Page 2, Line 325-3-132. Graduate medical education grant program -
Page 2, Line 4created - award of grants - rules - definitions. (1) The graduate
Page 2, Line 5medical education grant program is created in the health
Page 2, Line 6facilities and emergency medical services division within the
Page 2, Line 7department of public health and environment. The purpose of
Page 2, Line 8the grant program is to support the establishment of
Page 2, Line 9ACGME-accredited residency programs at GME-naive
Page 2, Line 10health-care facilities in Colorado in order to expand physician
Page 2, Line 11training capacity and address the state's physician workforce shortage.
Page 2, Line 12(2) Grant recipients may use the money received through
Page 2, Line 13the grant program for reasonable costs directly associated
Page 2, Line 14with establishing an ACGME-accredited residency program at a GME-naive health-care facility in Colorado.
Page 2, Line 15(3) The division shall administer the grant program and,
Page 2, Line 16subject to available appropriations or gifts, grants, or
Page 3, Line 1donations, shall award grants as provided in this section. The
Page 3, Line 2division may adopt rules necessary to implement the grant program.
Page 3, Line 3(4) In developing the grant program, the division shall
Page 3, Line 4conduct a stakeholder engagement process that includes
Page 3, Line 5representatives from for-profit and not-for-profit medical schools to recommend:
Page 3, Line 6(a) Grant program eligibility criteria;
(b) Contents of the grant program application;
Page 3, Line 7(c) Procedures and timelines for grant application submission and review;
Page 3, Line 8(d) Standards to measure grant applicant capacity to
Page 3, Line 9scale a newly established residency program in order to speed up access to available federal funding; and
Page 3, Line 10(e) Metrics and reporting responsibilities for grantees.
Page 3, Line 11(5) The division shall review the applications received
Page 3, Line 12pursuant to this section and award grants in accordance with
Page 3, Line 13the recommendations of the stakeholders engaged pursuant to
Page 3, Line 14subsection (4) of this section. In awarding grants, the division
Page 3, Line 15shall prioritize grant applicants that, in turn, prioritize medical
Page 3, Line 16students graduating from Colorado's accredited institutions of
Page 3, Line 17higher education for acceptance into a newly established residency program.
Page 3, Line 18(6) In awarding grants, the division shall not:
Page 3, Line 19(a) Restrict grant awards to particular specialties at health-care facilities establishing residency programs; or
Page 3, Line 20(b) Disadvantage small, rural, or nonprofit grant
Page 4, Line 1applicants with a high public payer mix or applicants that disproportionately provide uncompensated care.
Page 4, Line 2(7) The general assembly may annually appropriate
Page 4, Line 3money to the department to implement the grant program,
Page 4, Line 4including money for grants and for the direct and indirect costs
Page 4, Line 5that the division incurs to administer the grant program. Any
Page 4, Line 6unexpended and unencumbered money from an appropriation
Page 4, Line 7made for the purposes of this section remains available for
Page 4, Line 8expenditure by the department for the purposes of this section in the following fiscal year without further appropriation.
Page 4, Line 9(8) The department may seek, accept, and expend gifts,
Page 4, Line 10grants, or donations from private or public sources for the purposes of this section.
Page 4, Line 11(9) Beginning in the January following the award of the
Page 4, Line 12first grant, and in January every year thereafter, the
Page 4, Line 13department shall include, as part of its presentation during its
Page 4, Line 14"SMART Act" hearing required by section 2-7-203, information
Page 4, Line 15concerning the role of the grant program in supporting the
Page 4, Line 16establishment of new ACGME-accredited residency programs in the state.
Page 4, Line 17(10) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:
Page 4, Line 18(a) "Accreditation council for graduate medical
Page 4, Line 19education" or "ACGME" means the not-for-profit organization
Page 4, Line 20that sets and monitors voluntary professional educational
Page 4, Line 21standards for physician training in a particular specialty or
Page 4, Line 22subspecialty following medical school and oversees the
Page 5, Line 1accreditation of residency and fellowship programs in the United States.
Page 5, Line 2(b) "Department" means the department of public health and environment created in section 25-1-102.
Page 5, Line 3(c) "Division" means the health facilities and emergency
Page 5, Line 4medical services division within the department of public health and environment.
Page 5, Line 5(d) "GME-naive health-care facility" means a health-care
Page 5, Line 6facility that has never had a physician resident training program.
Page 5, Line 7(e) "Grant program" means the graduate medical
Page 5, Line 8education grant program created in subsection (1) of this section.
Page 5, Line 9(f) "Residency program" means a supervised clinical
Page 5, Line 10training program for physicians who have earned a doctor of medicine or doctor of osteopathy degree.
Page 5, Line 11SECTION 2. Act subject to petition - effective date. This act
Page 5, Line 12takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on the day following the expiration of the
Page 5, Line 13ninety-day period after final adjournment of the general assembly; except
Page 5, Line 14that, if a referendum petition is filed pursuant to section 1 (3) of article V
Page 5, Line 15of the state constitution against this act or an item, section, or part of this
Page 5, Line 16act within such period, then the act, item, section, or part will not take
Page 5, Line 17effect unless approved by the people at the general election to be held in
Page 5, Line 18November 2026 and, in such case, will take effect on the date of the official declaration of the vote thereon by the governor.