89R15622 MPF-F
By: Villalobos H.B. No. 4801
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment of a grant program to allow the Nueces
County Hospital District to recruit and retain certain medical
professionals.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 281.094(b), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) The board of the Nueces County Hospital District may use
funds made available to the district from any source to fund:
(1) indigent health care; [and]
(2) intergovernmental transfers from the district to
the state for use as the nonfederal share of Medicaid supplemental
payment program or waiver program payments for eligible health care
providers located inside or outside the district's boundaries,
including, but not limited to, any payments available through a
waiver granted under Section 1115, Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
Section 1315), or other similar payment programs, subject to the
limitation prescribed by Subsection (c); and
(3) the grant program established under Section
281.0941.
SECTION 2. Subchapter E, Chapter 281, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 281.0941 to read as follows:
Sec. 281.0941. NUECES COUNTY HOSPITAL DISTRICT GRANT
PROGRAM. (a) The board of the Nueces County Hospital District
shall establish and administer a grant program for hospitals
located in the hospital district to provide the funding necessary
to:
(1) allow hospitals in the district to:
(A) retain physicians currently practicing at
those hospitals; and
(B) recruit physicians who practice medicine in a
specialty or subspecialty providing treatment for the most common
and critical health care needs of the residents of the hospital
district to practice at those hospitals; and
(2) increase the number of residency positions at
hospitals in the district.
(b) The board of the hospital district shall:
(1) prescribe the manner in which a hospital in the
district may apply for a grant under this section;
(2) establish eligibility and selection criteria for a
hospital to be awarded a grant under this section; and
(3) establish accountability controls for hospitals
awarded a grant under this section to ensure:
(A) the grant is used in a manner that is
consistent with the public purpose of providing medical and
hospital care for the indigent residents of the district; and
(B) the district receives a benefit in return for
the award of the grant.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.