Providing for rural pharmacy preservation; requiring the commissioner of health to establish a program to award grants to certain eligible rural communities or health care providers in the communities to plan, establish, operate or provide health care services preserving access to prescription medications and pharmacist skills; specifying certain grant eligibility requirements, requiring development of a strategic plan, specifying certain plan content requirements; authorizing use of the grants to implement transition projects for pharmacy services, to develop pharmacy practices integrating pharmacy and existing health care provider facilities or to establish a pharmacy provider cooperative; requiring the crediting of excess revenue collected by the board of pharmacy to a rural pharmacy grant account and appropriating money in the account to the commissioner for the grants; requiring the commissioner to appoint a committee to assist in determining grant recipients, specifying certain membership requirements; requiring the commissioner to establish a deadline for receiving applications and imposiing a final decision time limit and certain grant limits; specifying certain grant program evaluation requirements; expanding the health professional education loan forgiveness program to pharmacists agreeing to practice in designated rural areas
(ja)