State of Illinois
Public Acts
92nd General Assembly

[ Home ]  [ ILCS ] [ Search ] [ Bottom ]
 [ Other General Assemblies ]

Public Act 92-0088

SB149 Enrolled                                LRB9201920DJgcA

    AN ACT in relation to medical care.

    Be it  enacted  by  the  People  of  the  State  of  Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:

    Section 1. Short title. This Act  may  be  cited  as  the
Community Health Center Expansion Act.

    Section 5. Definitions. In this Act:
    "Community  health center site" means a new physical site
where a community health center will provide  primary  health
care services either to a medically underserved population or
area or to the uninsured population of this State.
    "Community  provider"  means a Federally Qualified Health
Center (FQHC) or FQHC Look-Alike (Community Health Center  or
health  center),  designated  as such by the Secretary of the
United States Department of Health and Human  Services,  that
operates  at  least  one  federally designated primary health
care delivery site in the State of Illinois.
    "Department" means  the  Illinois  Department  of  Public
Health.
    "Medically underserved area" means an urban or rural area
designated  by  the Secretary of the United States Department
of Health and Human Services as an area with  a  shortage  of
personal health services.
    "Medically   underserved   population"   means   (i)  the
population of an  urban  or  rural  area  designated  by  the
Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human
Services  as  an  area  with  a  shortage  of personal health
services  or  (ii)  a  population  group  designated  by  the
Secretary as having a shortage of those services.
    "Primary health care services" means the following:
         (1)  Basic  health  services   consisting   of   the
    following:
              (A) Health services related to family medicine,
         internal   medicine,   pediatrics,   obstetrics,  or
         gynecology that are furnished by physicians and,  if
         appropriate,     physician     assistants,     nurse
         practitioners, and nurse midwives.
              (B)   Diagnostic   laboratory   and  radiologic
         services.
              (C) Preventive health services,  including  the
         following:
                   (i) Prenatal and perinatal services.
                   (ii)  Screenings  for  breast and cervical
              cancer.
                   (iii) Well-child services.
                   (iv)         Immunizations         against
              vaccine-preventable diseases.
                   (v) Screenings  for  elevated  blood  lead
              levels, communicable diseases, and cholesterol.
                   (vi)   Pediatric   eye,  ear,  and  dental
              screenings to determine the need for vision and
              hearing correction and dental care.
                   (vii) Voluntary family planning services.
                   (viii) Preventive dental services.
              (D) Emergency medical services.
              (E) Pharmaceutical services as appropriate  for
         particular health centers.
         (2)  Referrals  to providers of medical services and
    other health-related services (including substance  abuse
    and mental health services).
         (3)  Patient  case  management  services  (including
    counseling,  referral,  and follow-up services) and other
    services designed to assist  health  center  patients  in
    establishing   eligibility  for  and  gaining  access  to
    federal,  State,  and  local  programs  that  provide  or
    financially support the  provision  of  medical,  social,
    educational, or other related services.
         (4)  Services  that  enable  individuals  to use the
    services of the health  center  (including  outreach  and
    transportation  services  and, if a substantial number of
    the  individuals  in  the  population  are   of   limited
    English-speaking  ability,  the  services  of appropriate
    personnel fluent in the language spoken by a  predominant
    number of those individuals).
         (5) Education of patients and the general population
    served  by  the  health center regarding the availability
    and proper use of health services.
         (6)  Additional  health   services   consisting   of
    services that are appropriate to meet the health needs of
    the  population  served by the health center involved and
    that may include the following:
              (A) Environmental  health  services,  including
         the following:
                   (i)    Detection    and   alleviation   of
              unhealthful conditions  associated  with  water
              supply.
                   (ii) Sewage treatment.
                   (iii) Solid waste disposal.
                   (iv)  Detection  and alleviation of rodent
              and parasite infestation.
                   (v) Field sanitation.
                   (vi) Housing.
                   (vii) Other environmental factors  related
              to health.
              (B)  Special occupation-related health services
         for migratory  and  seasonal  agricultural  workers,
         including the following:
                   (i)   Screening   for   and   control   of
              infectious    diseases,   including   parasitic
              diseases.
                   (ii) Injury prevention programs, which may
              include prevention of exposure to unsafe levels
              of    agricultural     chemicals,     including
              pesticides.
    "Uninsured  population"  means  persons  who  do  not own
private health care  insurance,  are  not  part  of  a  group
insurance plan, and are not eligible for any State or federal
government-sponsored health care program.

    Section 10. Grants.
    (a)  The  Department  shall  establish a community health
center  expansion  grant  program  and  may  make  grants  to
eligible community providers subject  to  appropriations  for
that  purpose.   The  grants  shall be for the purpose of (i)
establishing new community health  center  sites  to  provide
primary   health   care  services  to  medically  underserved
populations  or  areas  as  defined  in  Section  5  or  (ii)
providing primary  health  care  services  to  the  uninsured
population of Illinois.
    (b)  Grants  under this Section shall be for periods of 3
years. The Department may make new grants whenever the  total
amount appropriated for grants is sufficient to fund both the
new grants and the grants already in effect.
    (c)  A  recipient of a grant to establish a new community
health center site must add each such site to the recipient's
established service area for the purpose of extending federal
FQHC or FQHC Look-Alike status to the new site in  accordance
with  federal  regulations. The grant recipient must complete
this process by the end of the second year of the grant.

    Section 15. Eligibility for grant. To be eligible  for  a
grant  under  this  Act,  a  recipient  must  be  a community
provider as defined in Section 5 of this Act.
    Section 20. Use of grant moneys. A recipient of  a  grant
under this Act may use the grant moneys to do any one or more
of the following:
         (1) Purchase equipment.
         (2)  Acquire a new physical location for the purpose
    of delivering primary health care services.
         (3) Hire and train staff.
         (4) Develop new practice networks.
         (5)  Purchase  services  or   products   that   will
    facilitate the provision of health care services at a new
    community health center site.

    Section 25. Reporting. Within 60 days after the first and
second  years  of a grant under this Act, the grant recipient
must  submit  a  progress  report  to  the  Department.   The
Department may assist each grant  recipient  in  meeting  the
goals  and  objectives  stated in the original grant proposal
submitted by the recipient, that grant moneys are being  used
for appropriate purposes, and that residents of the community
are  being  served  by  the new community health center sites
established with grant moneys.

    Section 30.  Rules; public comment.
    (a)  The Department shall adopt rules and regulations  it
deems necessary for the efficient administration of this Act.
    (b)  The  rules shall provide for a 30-day general public
comment period.  Notification  of  a  30-day  general  public
comment  period  shall be given to the community into which a
grant applicant proposes to expand by publication in at least
one newspaper of general circulation in  that  community.  At
the  conclusion  of the 30-day comment period, the Department
shall no longer  accept  written  comments.   The  Department
shall  review  written comments, submitted within the comment
period, before awarding a grant.
    (c)  The  Department  shall  consider  the  contents   of
written  comments  only  as  part of the overall grant review
process.

    Section 99. Effective date. This Act  takes  effect  upon
becoming law.
    Passed in the General Assembly April 25, 2001.
    Approved July 18, 2001.
    Effective July 18, 2001.

[ Top ]