Relating to authorizing the establishment of a grant program to allow the Nueces County Hospital District to recruit and retain certain medical professionals.

89(R) HB 4801 - House Committee Report version - Bill Text

89R25431 MPF-F

By: Villalobos

H.B. No. 4801

Substitute the following for H.B. No. 4801:

By: Bell of Montgomery

C.S.H.B. No. 4801

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to authorizing 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(a), Health and Safety Code, is

amended to read as follows:

(a) With the approval of the Nueces County Commissioners

Court, the board of the Nueces County Hospital District may use

funds made available to the district from sources other than a tax

levy to fund
:

(1)
health care services, including public health

services, mental health services, intellectual disability

services, emergency medical services, health services provided to

persons confined in jail facilities, and for other health related

purposes
; and

(2)

a 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 PHYSICIAN

RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION GRANT PROGRAM. (a) The board of the

Nueces County Hospital District may 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)

If the board of the hospital district establishes a

grant program under this section, the board shall adopt rules to

ensure the grant is used in a manner that is consistent with the

public purpose of providing medical aid and hospital care for the

indigent and needy individuals residing in the district, including

rules:

(1)

prescribing the manner in which a hospital in the

district may apply for a grant under this section;

(2)

establishing eligibility and selection criteria

for a hospital to be awarded a grant under this section;

(3)

establishing accountability controls for

hospitals awarded a grant under this section to ensure the district

receives a benefit in return for the award of the grant; and

(4)

relating to any other aspect of the program the

board determines necessary for the program's administration.

(c)

The board of the hospital district may not use money

received by the district under Chapter 298C to fund a grant awarded

under this section.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.