Bill Text: VA HB1976 | 2021 | Regular Session | Engrossed
Bill Title: Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority; mission of Authority, membership.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2021-02-05 - Continued to 2021 Sp. Sess. 1 in Education and Health (15-Y 0-N) [HB1976 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2021-HB1976-Engrossed.html
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§32.1-122.7 and 32.1-122.7:1 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§32.1-122.7. Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority; purpose.
A. There is hereby created as a public body corporate and as a
political subdivision of the Commonwealth the Virginia Health Workforce
Development Authority (the Authority), with such public and corporate
powers as are set forth in §32.1-122.7:2. The Authority is hereby constituted
as a public instrumentality, exercising public and essential governmental
functions with the power and purpose to provide for the health, welfare,
convenience, knowledge, benefit, and prosperity of the residents of the
Commonwealth and such other persons who might be served by the Authority. The
Authority is being established to move the Commonwealth forward in
achieving its vision of ensuring a quality health workforce for all Virginians.
B. The mission of the Authority is to facilitate the development
of a statewide health professions pipeline that identifies, educates, recruits,
and retains a diverse, appropriately geographically distributed, and
culturally competent quality workforce. The mission of the Authority is
accomplished by: (i) providing the statewide infrastructure required for health
workforce needs assessment and planning that maintains engagement by health
professions training programs in decision making and program implementation;
(ii) serving as the advisory board and setting priorities for the Virginia Area
Health Education Centers Program; (iii) coordinating with and serving as a
resource to relevant state, regional, and local entities, including the
Department of Health Professions Workforce Data Center, the Joint Legislative
Audit and Review Commission, the Joint Commission on Health Care, the Southwest
Virginia Health Authority, or any similar regional health authority that may be
developed; (iv) informing state and local policy development as it pertains to
health care delivery, training, and education; (v) identifying and promoting
evidence-based strategies for health workforce pipeline development and
interdisciplinary health care service models, particularly those affecting
rural and other underserved areas; (vi) supporting communities in their health
workforce recruitment and retention efforts and developing partnerships and
promoting models of participatory engagement with business and community-based
and social organizations to foster integration of health care training and
education; (vii) advocating for programs that will result in reducing the debt
load of newly trained health professionals; (viii) identifying high priority
target areas within each region of the Commonwealth and working toward health
workforce development initiatives that improve health measurably in those
areas; and (ix) fostering or creating innovative health workforce
development models that provide both health and economic benefits to the
regions they serve; (x) developing strategies to increase diversity in the
health workforce by examining demographic data on race and ethnicity in
training programs and health professional licensure; [ and ] (xi)
identifying ways to leverage technology to increase access to health workforce
training and health care delivery [ ; and (xii) developing a centralized
health care careers roadmap in partnership with the Department of Health
Professions that includes information on both licensed and unlicensed
professions and that is disseminated to the Commonwealth's health care
workforce stakeholders to raise awareness about available career pathways ]
.
§32.1-122.7:1. Board of Directors of the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority.
The Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority shall be
governed by a Board of Directors. The Board of Directors shall
consist have a total membership of 13 15 members to
be that shall consist of three legislative members, nine nonlegislative
citizen members, and three ex officio members. Members shall be appointed
as follows: two members of the House of Delegates, to be appointed by the
Speaker of the House of Delegates in accordance with the principles of
proportional representation contained in the Rules of the House of Delegates;
one member of the Senate, to be appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules;
seven and nine nonlegislative citizen members, three of whom shall
be representatives of health professional educational or training programs,
three five of whom shall be health professionals or employers or
representatives of health professionals, and one of whom shall be a
representative of community health, to be appointed by the Governor; and the.
The Commissioner of Health or his designee, the Chancellor of the Virginia
Community College System or his designee, and the Director of the Department of
Health Professions or his designee, who shall serve as ex officio
members with voting privileges. Members appointed by the Governor shall be
citizens of the Commonwealth.
Legislative members and state government officials
ex officio members shall serve terms coincident with their terms of office.
All appointments of nonlegislative citizen members shall be for two-year terms
following the initial staggering of terms. Appointments to fill vacancies,
other than by expiration of a term, shall be for the unexpired terms.
Legislative and citizen members may be reappointed; however, no citizen member
shall serve more than four consecutive two-year terms. The remainder of any
term to which a member is appointed to fill a vacancy shall not constitute a
term in determining the member's term limit. Vacancies shall be filled in the
same manner as the original appointments.
The Board of Directors shall elect a chairman and
vice-chairman annually from among its legislative members. A majority of
the members of the Board of Directors shall constitute a quorum.
The Board of Directors shall report biennially on the activities and recommendations of the Authority to the Secretary of Health and Human Resources, the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of Commerce and Trade, the Chief Workforce Development Advisor, the State Board of Health, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, the Joint Commission on Health Care, the Governor, and the General Assembly. In any reporting period where state general funds are appropriated to the Authority, the report shall include a detailed summary of how state general funds were expended.
The accounts and records of the Authority showing the receipt and disbursement of funds from whatever source derived shall be in a form prescribed by the Auditor of Public Accounts. The Auditor of Public Accounts, or his legally authorized representative, shall examine the accounts of the Authority as determined necessary by the Auditor of Public Accounts. The cost of such audit shall be borne by the Authority.