Part IV. Contracts
12VAC5-530-80. Contractual practice obligation.
Prior to the payment of money to a scholarship awardee, the commissioner shall enter into a contract with the recipient. The contract shall:
1. Provide that the recipient will pursue the medical course of the school nominating the recipient for the award until the recipient's graduation or will pursue the recipient's first year of primary care graduate training in an accredited residency program approved by the school nominating the recipient for the award and, upon completing a term not to exceed three* years as a resident in an approved program, will promptly begin and thereafter continuously engage in full-time primary care practice in a medically underserved area of Virginia, or in a designated state facility, for a period of years equal to the number of annual scholarships received. At any time prior to entering practice, the scholarship recipient shall be allowed to select a future practice location from the listing of medically underserved areas maintained by the board, and the recipient shall be allowed to fulfill the scholarship repayment obligation in the preselected medically underserved area. However, after making an initial selection of a medically underserved area in which to practice, the recipient may not alter the decision until the recipient is fully prepared to enter practice, at which time the recipient must choose from the current list of medically underserved areas maintained by the board or the preselected medically underserved area.
2. Provide that the recipient shall notify the commissioner in writing of his proposed practice location not more than 30 days after completing his approved residency program. After receiving written approval of his practice location from the commissioner, the recipient shall begin his approved practice not more than 90 days after completing his primary care residency program.
3. Provide that the recipient may request approval of a change of practice location. The commissioner in his discretion may approve such a request, but only if the change is to a practice location in a medically underserved area or a state facility designated by the Board of Health.
4. Provide that the recipient shall repay the scholarship obligation by practicing primary care medicine on a full-time basis in a medically underserved area, will maintain office hours convenient for the population of the area to have access to the recipient's services and will participate in all government sponsored insurance programs designed to assure access of covered persons to medical care services such as Medicare and Medicaid, and will not selectively place limits on the numbers of such patients admitted to the practice, and will charge the usual and customary fees prevailing in the area in which service is provided, except that if the patient is unable to pay the charge, such a patient will be charged a reduced rate or will not be charged at all. This stipulation may be waived at the commissioner's discretion in cases where it places undue financial burden on the part of the primary care medical practice.
5. Provide that the recipient repaying the scholarship obligation by practicing primary care medicine on a full-time basis in a medically underserved area will maintain office hours convenient for the population of the area to have access to the recipient's services.
6. Provide that the recipient shall not voluntarily obligate himself for more than the minimum period of military service required of physicians by the laws of the United States and that upon completion of the minimum period of military service, the recipient will promptly begin and thereafter continuously engage in full-time primary care practice in a medically underserved area of Virginia, or in a designated state facility, for the period of years equal to the number of scholarships received.
7. Provide that the recipient shall receive credit toward fulfillment of his contractual obligation at the rate of 12 months of medical practice for each scholarship award paid to the recipient. The recipient may be absent from the place of approved practice for a total of seven weeks in each 12-month period for personal reasons. Absence for a period in excess of seven weeks without the written permission of the commissioner shall result in proportional reduction of the period of credit toward fulfillment of the contractual obligation.
*NOTE: A variance (of one additional year) to the maximum three-year residency limitation will be available to medical scholarship recipients who choose to complete an obstetrics/gynecology residency program or a certificate of added qualification in primary care upon their request.
Statutory Authority
§§ 32.1-12, 32.1-122.5, 32.1-122.5:1, 32.1-122.6, and 32.1-122.6:01 of the Code of Virginia.
Historical Notes
Derived from VR355-40-400 § 4.1, eff. July 3, 1991; amended, Virginia Register Volume 10, Issue 21, eff. August 10, 1994.
12VAC5-530-90. Default.
With respect to default, the contract shall:
1. Provide that a recipient who fails to fulfill his obligation to practice primary care medicine as provided for in this chapter shall be deemed to be in default and shall forfeit all monetary scholarship payments made to him, and shall make restitution of those funds to the Commonwealth of Virginia as provided for in subdivisions 2 through 6 of this section.
2. Provide that if the recipient defaults while still in medical school or residency, by voluntarily notifying the commissioner in writing that he will not practice primary care in a Virginia medically underserved area as required by his contract, by voluntarily not proceeding to the next year of medical education or residency, or by withdrawing from medical school or residency, he shall make restitution to the Commonwealth of Virginia by repayment of all monetary scholarship awards plus interest on the amount of the restitution.
3. Provide that the recipient who defaults by failing to maintain satisfactory academic progress, or by reason of his dismissal from medical school for any reason, shall make restitution to the Commonwealth of Virginia by repayment of all monetary scholarship awards plus interest on the amount of such restitution to the Commonwealth.
4. Provide that if the recipient is in default due to death or permanent disability so as not to be able to engage in primary care practice, the recipient or his personal representative shall make restitution to the Commonwealth by repayment of all monetary scholarship awards plus interest on the amount of restitution. Partial fulfillment of the recipient's contractual obligation by the practice of medicine as provided for in this contract prior to death or permanent disability shall reduce the amount of restitution plus interest due by a proportionate amount of money, such proportion being determined as the ratio of the number of whole months that a recipient has practiced primary care medicine in an approved location to the total number of months of the contractual obligation the recipient has incurred.
5. Provide that individual cases of extraordinary hardship may be considered by the commissioner for forgiveness or partial forgiveness of payment or service.
6. Provide that any recipient of a scholarship, who defaults by evasion or refusal to fulfill the obligation to practice primary care medicine in a medically underserved area or designated state facility for a period of years equal to the number of annual scholarships received at any time following completion of medical school and residency training, shall make restitution by repaying all monetary scholarship awards, plus penalty, plus interest on such restitution to the Commonwealth of Virginia. A recipient will be considered to be in such default on the date:
a. The commissioner is notified in writing by the recipient that he does not intend to fulfill his contractual obligation;
b. The recipient has not accepted a placement and commenced his period of obligated practice as provided for in subdivision 2 of this section; or
c. The recipient absents himself without the consent of the commissioner from the place of medical practice which the commissioner has approved for fulfillment of his contractual obligation.
Statutory Authority
§§ 32.1-12, 32.1-122.5, 32.1-122.5:1, 32.1-122.6, and 32.1-122.6:01 of the Code of Virginia.
Historical Notes
Derived from VR355-40-400 § 4.2, eff. July 3, 1991; amended, Virginia Register Volume 10, Issue 21, eff. August 10, 1994.