§ 20-12-203 - Administration. - Arkansas Statutes

20-12-203. Administration.

(a) (1) There is established on the books of the Treasurer of State, the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State, and the Auditor of State, a fund to be known as the "Rural Medical Clinic Revolving Loan Fund", which shall consist of moneys provided by law to be used solely and exclusively for the making of loans by the State Board of Finance, upon application therefor, for the construction and equipping of rural medical clinics in rural areas of this state.

(2) Loans for any one (1) medical practitioner or for the same rural medical clinic shall not exceed in the aggregate the sum of one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000).

(3) Loans shall be at five percent (5%) interest annually and shall not be for a period of more than ten (10) years.

(b) Before the loan may be made, the State Board of Finance shall determine:

(1) That the rural community in which the rural medical clinic is to be established through a loan made under this subchapter does not have adequate medical services available in the rural community;

(2) That the land, building, and equipment to be acquired, constructed, or renovated through the use of the loan funds are needed to meet the medical needs of the community in which it is to be established;

(3) That the medical practitioners seeking the loan have entered into an agreement with the State Board of Finance, which shall be a part of the loan application and agreement, if approved, to engage in medical practice in the rural medical clinic for the period for which the loan is applied; and

(4) That, if there are not adequate funds available to make loans for rural medical clinics applying for the loans, the State Board of Finance shall make the loans to those rural medical clinics which, in the opinion of the State Board of Finance, will meet the more critical rural medical needs of this state.

(c) Loans made under this subchapter shall be secured by a first lien mortgage on the lands and buildings to be acquired, constructed, or improved and upon the equipment to be installed therein to be used as a medical clinic in the rural area of this state.

(d) If any person obtaining a loan under this subchapter shall be delinquent in making two (2) payments due under the terms of the loan or shall cease to use the property or equipment for which the loan was provided as a medical clinic, the entire unpaid balance of the loan and all unpaid interest thereon shall be due and payable upon a determination of the facts by a court of competent jurisdiction.

(e) The State Board of Finance may make such reasonable rules and regulations and to prescribe such forms and procedures as are deemed appropriate to enable it to enforce this subchapter.

(f) In addition to such criteria as are established by the State Board of Finance, the State Board of Health may establish through rules and regulations promulgated by the Division of Health of the Department of Health and Human Services criteria to implement the following requirements:

(1) That a person with an already established practice will not be considered an eligible applicant except under extreme circumstances threatening the continuance of his or her service to the rural community;

(2) That the applicant shall serve a proportionate amount of Medicaid patients for the rural community;

(3) That the applicant shall demonstrate a willingness to work within the existing health care system;

(4) That the applicant shall practice a minimum of thirty-two (32) hours a week; and

(5) That no applicant with professional income guarantees from other sources shall be approved under this program.

(g) The division shall develop criteria for evaluating medically underserved areas, which shall include, but not be limited to:

(1) Infant mortality rate;

(2) Poverty population percentage;

(3) Population-to-primary-care-physician ratio; and

(4) Teenage pregnancy rate.