Public Act 101-0273
 
HB2896 EnrolledLRB101 08618 CPF 53698 b

    AN ACT concerning State government.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Department of Public Health Powers and
Duties Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois is
amended by adding Section 2310-213 as follows:
 
    (20 ILCS 2310/2310-213 new)
    Sec. 2310-213. Diversity in Health Care Professions Task
Force.
    (a) The Diversity in Health Care Professions Task Force is
created. The Director shall serve as the chairperson and shall
appoint the following members to the Task Force, licensed to
practice in their respective fields in Illinois:
        (1) 2 dentists.
        (2) 2 medical doctors.
        (3) 2 nurses.
        (4) 2 optometrists.
        (5) 2 pharmacists.
        (6) 2 physician assistants.
        (7) 2 podiatrists.
        (8) 2 public health practitioners.
    (b) The Task Force has the following objectives:
        (1) Minority students pursuing medicine or healthcare
    as a career option. The goal is to diversify the health
    care workforce by engaging students, parents, and the
    community to build an infrastructure that assists students
    in developing the skills necessary for careers in
    healthcare.
        (2) Establishing a mentee/mentor relationship with
    current healthcare professionals and students, utilizing
    social media to communicate important messages and success
    stories, and holding a conference related to diversity and
    inclusion in healthcare professions.
        (3) Early employment and support, including (i)
    researching and leveraging best practices, including
    recruitment, retention, orientation, workplace diversity,
    and inclusion training, (ii) identifying barriers to
    inclusion and retention, and (iii) proposing solutions.
        (4) Healthcare leadership and succession planning,
    including:
            (A) providing education, resources and tool kits
        to fully support, implement, and cultivate diversity
        and inclusion in Illinois health-related professions
        through coordination of resources from professional
        health care leadership organizations;
            (B) developing healthy work environments,
        leadership training on culture, diversity, and
        inclusion; and
            (C) obtaining workforce development concentrated
        on graduate and post-graduate education and succession
        planning.
    (c) The Task Force may collaborate with policy makers,
medical and specialty societies, national minority
organizations, and other groups to achieve greater diversity in
medicine and the health professions.
    The Task Force's priorities are:
        (1) Affirmative action programs should be designed to
    promote the entry of racial and ethnic minority students
    into medical school, as well as other specialized training
    programs for other health professions.
        (2) Recruitment activities should support and advocate
    for the full spectrum of racial, ethnic, and cultural
    diversity, including language, national origin, and
    religion within the healthcare profession. These
    activities should maintain the high quality of the health
    care workforce and encourage individuals from all
    backgrounds to enter careers in healthcare.
        (3) Recruitment and academic preparations of
    underrepresented minority students should begin in
    elementary school and continue through the entire scope of
    their education and professional formation. Efforts to
    recruit minority students into the various health care
    professions should be targeted appropriately at each
    educational level.
        (4) Financial incentives should be increased to
    minority students, including federal funding for diversity
    programs, such as Title VII funding, loan forgiveness or
    repayment programs, and tuition reimbursement.
        (5) Enhancing diversity within the healthcare
    workforce will require a commitment at the highest levels.
    To put this commitment into practice, educational and
    healthcare institutions, medical organizations, and other
    relevant bodies should hire staff who are responsible
    solely for the implementation, management, and evaluation
    of diversity programs and who are accountable to the
    organizational leadership. These programs should be
    integrated into the organization's operations and provided
    with an infrastructure adequate to implement and measure
    the effectiveness of their activities.
        (6) Institutional commitments to improve workforce
    diversity must include a formal program or mechanism to
    ensure that racial, ethnic, and cultural minority
    individuals rise to leadership positions at all levels.
        (7) Organizations with a stake in enhancing workforce
    diversity should implement systems to track data and
    information on race, ethnicity, and other cultural
    attributes.
    (d) Task Force members shall serve without compensation but
may be reimbursed for their expenses incurred in performing
their duties. The Task Force shall meet at least quarterly and
at other times as called by the chairperson.
    (e) The Department of Public Health shall provide
administrative and other support to the Task Force.
    (f) The Task Force shall prepare a report that summarizes
its work and makes recommendations resulting from its study.
The Task Force shall submit the report of its findings and
recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly by
December 1, 2020 and annually thereafter.