[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 244 (Friday, December 19, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Page 70818]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-31250]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request

    Periodically, the Health Resources and Services Administration 
(HRSA) publishes abstracts of information collection requests under 
review by the Office of Management and Budget, in compliance with the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). To request a 
copy of the clearance requests submitted to OMB for review, call the 
HRSA Reports Clearance Office on (301)-443-1129.

Proposed Project: Health Center Expansion and Recruitment Survey--New

    HRSA's Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP) currently funds a 
number of Rural Health Research Centers in the United States, 
allocating funding through cooperative agreements. Authorized by 
Section 301 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 241), ORHP 
conducts research and investigations to render assistance to 
appropriate public authorities in the areas of the health and well-
being of rural populations in the United States. A major current 
initiative of HRSA is the expansion of Health Centers (HCs) receiving 
funding under section 330 of the PHS Act, which provides medical care 
to lower income Americans regardless of the ability to pay in rural and 
urban areas.
    HCs are a key element of the nation's medical care safety net, and 
are scheduled to expand the scope of their operations in the near 
future. One of the issues affecting HC expansion is their ability to 
recruit adequate numbers of medical and administrative personnel to 
accomplish their mission, particularly in rural areas, where there have 
been persistent problems recruiting and retaining health care 
personnel. HRSA's Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP) has funded a 
study in collaborative oversight with the Bureau of Primary Health Care 
(BPHC) and the Bureau of Health Professions (BHPr), to collect 
information from HCs on issues concerning the recruitment of various 
types of health professionals and administrative personnel.
    This data collection effort is designed to assess the problems 
encountered by rural and remote HCs in their efforts to recruit needed 
personnel as well as the types of programs employed in recruitment 
efforts, and to compare these patterns with prevailing programs in 
urban HCs. This one-time survey will collect information on all HCs 
receiving section 330 grant funding in the United States. The survey 
includes 13 separate response items, and will collect information from 
HC administrators on health care professional staffing, recruitment 
trends and issues and needs among HCs throughout the nation. The data 
collected will improve HRSA's abilities in forecasting needs for 
personnel as HCs expand, planning recruitment programs and strategies, 
and implementing of local and national policy initiatives to meet the 
personnel demands of HCs so that access to health care is maximized.
    The burden estimates are as follows:

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                                                                                         Number of                        Avg. burden/
           Health center expansion and recruitment survey               Number of      responses per   Total number of     hours per       Total burden
                                                                       respondents       respondent       responses         response          hours
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Survey instruments.................................................             845                1              845              .25              211
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    Written comments and recommendations concerning the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of this notice to: 
John Morrall, Human Resources and Housing Branch, Office of Management 
and Budget, New Executive Office Building, Room 10235, Washington, DC 
20503.

    Dated: December 11, 2003.
Tina M. Cheatham,
Acting Director, Division of Policy Review and Coordination.
[FR Doc. 03-31250 Filed 12-18-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P