CO SB172

Establishes the Colorado Rural Health-care Workforce Initiative to expand the number of health-care professionals practicing in Colorado's rural and frontier counties through rural track programs at higher education institutions.

Institutions may establish or expand health-care professionals rural tracks in nursing, medicine, dentistry, physician assistant, public health, and behavioral health programs, with funding subject to available appropriations.

Participating institutions must conduct outreach, prioritize admissions, award scholarships (using 40% of funding), develop rural-focused curriculum, and place students with rural preceptors for clinical training.

Students accepting scholarships commit in writing to working in a rural or frontier county for two years after completing education; students who fail to fulfill this commitment must repay the full scholarship amount.

Appropriates $1,200,000 total for fiscal year 2022-23 to the Department of Higher Education for contracts with 11 institutions and the University of Colorado's rural program office to administer the initiative.