§ 143B-139.4C.  Office of Rural Health; administration of loan repayment programs.

(a) The Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Rural Health, shall use funds appropriated to the Department for loan repayment to medical, dental, and psychiatric providers practicing in State hospitals or in rural or medically underserved communities in this State to combine the following loan repayment programs in order to achieve efficient and effective management of these programs:

(1) The Physician Loan Repayment Program.

(2) The Psychiatric Loan Repayment Program.

(3) The Loan Repayment Initiative at State Facilities.

(b) These funds may be used for the following additional purposes:

(1) Continued funding of the State Loan Repayment Program for primary care providers and expansion of State incentives to general surgeons practicing in Critical Access Hospitals located across the State.

(2) Expansion of the State Loan Repayment Program to include eligible providers residing in North Carolina who use telemedicine in rural and underserved areas. (2017-57, s. 11A.9; 2018-88, s. 3(a).)