Current through all regulations passed and filed through September 16, 2024
(A)
As used in this
rule, "advanced practice registered nurse," "clinician," "physician," and
"physician assistant" have the same meanings as in section
5119.185 of the Revised
Code.
(B)
The department has established a clinician loan
repayment program to enhance its ability to recruit and retain physicians
(including psychiatrists), advanced practice registered nurses, and physician
assistants as civil service employees in the department's regional psychiatric
hospitals. The director or the director's designee, in consultation with the
department's medical director, is to designate which regional psychiatric
hospitals, on an as needed basis, may implement the clinician loan repayment
program.
(C)
To be approved for loan repayment, a clinician is to
have attended a school specified in division (B)(1), (B)(2), or (B)(3) of
section 5119.185 of the Revised Code, as
applicable, meet criteria for civil service employment, and be willing to
execute a contract with the department that includes the terms in paragraph (F)
of this rule.
(D)
Subject to the limits in paragraph (E) of this rule,
the department may repay all or a portion of the principal, interest, or
related expenses of a government or commercial educational loan a clinician has
incurred for the expenses specified in division (C)(2) of section
5119.185 of the Revised Code
that are directly related to the clinician's education for the relevant
clinical degree or specialty training. The department will neither repay taxes
the clinician has paid on loan amounts or taxes incurred in the receipt of the
clinician loan repayment benefit nor pay an amount that exceeds the amount
incurred by the clinician during the loan repayment agreement period.
(1)
The criteria the
department will consider when determining the portion of an individual
clinician's loan the department will repay are all of the following:
(a)
The amount of
funds available pursuant to section
126.07 of the Revised
Code;
(b)
The number of clinicians eligible or potentially
eligible for loan repayment;
(c)
The department's
staffing needs;
(d)
Economic and market factors affecting the department's
ability to recruit and retain that particular type of
clinician.
(2)
The department will consider the current average prices
of the items specified in division (C)(2)(b) of section
5119.185 of the Revised Code
when determining the reasonable amount of such expenses the department will
repay. The criteria the department will consider when determining the
reasonable amount of room and board the department will repay are current
average rental rates or dormitory charges, as applicable, in the region where
the clinician undertook their clinical education or specialty training. The
department may use any source it determines appropriate in determining average
prices, rental rates, or dormitory charges.
(E)
The department is
limited to paying no more than the following amounts on an annual basis for a
maximum of ten years:
(1)
For a clinician who is a physician, thirty thousand
dollars; or
(2)
For a clinician who is an advanced practice registered
nurse or physician assistant, seven thousand five hundred
dollars.
(F)
The department is to enter into a contract with each
clinician approved for the program. The contract is to contain the terms in
division (C) of section
5119.185 of the Revised Code and
specify the following:
(1)
That the term of a contract is one year, renewable
annually for a maximum of ten years at the sole discretion of the department
after the department has considered any factor it determines appropriate
including whether the clinician has successfully completed the performance
reviews described in paragraph (G)(3) of this rule;
(2)
That funds, in an
amount determined by the department not to exceed the applicable amount
specified in paragraph (E) of this rule for the year, will be distributed
directly to the clinician on a date determined by the department, as
follows:
(a)
On
a reimbursement basis, whereby the clinician submits documentation satisfactory
to the department of the loan payments the clinician has made to the lender in
the immediately preceding twelve months;
(b)
Only after the
department has verified both of the following:
(i)
That the
clinician has completed the agreed upon hours in the immediately preceding
twelve months; and
(ii)
That the clinician has successfully completed the
performance reviews described in paragraph (G)(3) of this rule.
(3)
That if the department is unable to verify that the
criteria in paragraph (F)(2)(b) of this rule have been satisfied, the repayment
loan monies will not be distributed and the contract is null and
void.
(4)
That the department's ability to repay a clinician's
educational loan is contingent on funds being available pursuant to section
126.07 of the Revised
Code.
The contract is to be signed by the
clinician and hospital chief executive officer. The hospital chief executive
officer is to send a copy of the signed contract to the department's medical
director.
(G)
Once executed, a
hospital chief executive officer is responsible for monitoring a clinician's
compliance with the contract terms. Associated with that responsibility, the
chief executive officer is to do all of the following:
(1)
Ensure that the
clinician complies with all department rules and policies;
(2)
Prior to any
distribution of funds to the clinician, verify that the clinician has satisfied
the criteria specified in paragraph (F)(2)(b) of this rule; and
(3)
Ensure that the
clinician is subject to performance reviews on an ongoing basis, at least once
annually.
Replaces: 5122-34-01
