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2021 SESSION
21102182DBe 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.
§ 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.