SECTION 25N1/2. Primary care residency grant program

(a) As used in this section, ''primary care provider'', shall mean a health care professional qualified to provide general medical care for common health care problems who: (1) supervises, coordinates, prescribes or otherwise provides or proposes health care services; (2) initiates referrals for specialist care; and (3) maintains continuity of care within the scope of practice.

(b) Pursuant to regulations to be promulgated by the health care workforce center, there shall be established a primary care residency grant program for the purpose of financing the training of primary care providers at teaching community health centers. Eligible applicants shall include teaching community health centers accredited through affiliations with a commonwealth-funded medical school or licensed as part of a teaching hospital with a residency program in primary care or family medicine and teaching health centers that are the independently accredited sponsoring organization for the residency program and whose residents are employed by the health center. Eligible residency programs shall be accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

To receive funding, an applicant shall: (1) include a review of recent graduates of the community health center's residency program, including information regarding what type of practice said graduates are involved in 2 years following graduation from the residency program; and (2) achieve a threshold of at least 50 per cent for the percentage of graduates practicing primary care within 2 years after graduation. Graduates practicing more than 50 per cent inpatient care or more than 50 per cent specialty care as listed in the American Medical Association Masterfile shall not qualify as graduates practicing primary care.

Awardees of the primary care residency grant program shall offer a 9 to 12 month residency program and maintain their teaching accreditation as either an independent teaching community health center or as a teaching community health center accredited through affiliation with a commonwealth-funded medical school or licensed as part of a teaching hospital.

The health care workforce center shall determine through regulation grant amounts per full-time resident. Funds for such grants shall come from the Health Care Workforce Transformation Fund established under section 2FFFF of chapter 29.