The Legislature of Alabama hereby finds and declares that physicians engaged in family practice are in critical short supply in Alabama, and further, that the distribution of such numbers that are available has created many areas of shortage, especially in the underserved rural areas of Alabama. The Legislature hereby declares that it regards the furtherance of a greater supply of family physicians to be of great importance and further declares the establishment of programs pursuant to this chapter to be desirable, necessary, and an economical method of increasing the number of family physicians needed to provide medical services to the people of Alabama, especially in underserved rural areas.

(a) There is hereby created an 11 member 'Family Practice Rural Health Board,' with each member serving a six year term unless otherwise specified. The board shall consist of the following membership:

(1) Two members representing the medically underserved rural areas to be appointed by the Governor.

(2) One member from each of the Seven U.S. Congressional Districts to be appointed by the Alabama Academy of Family Physicians.

(3) One member to be appointed from the membership of the House of Representatives by the Speaker and whose term shall end with his legislative term at which time a replacement will be appointed.

(4) One member to be appointed from the membership of the State Senate by the Lieutenant Governor and whose term shall end with his legislative term at which time a replacement will be appointed.

(b) The board shall meet within 90 days following May 3, 1990, and elect from its membership, a chairman and other officers deemed necessary by the board. The director or his designee, of each of the family practice residency programs receiving funds through the provisions of this chapter, shall serve as ex officio, non-voting member of the board. Members shall receive no compensation for their services, but may be paid such per diem and mileage as provided for state employees.

The board may assist in determining and prioritizing the medically underserved areas where there exist unmet needs for family physicians.

The board shall not allocate any funds pursuant to this chapter to any Family Practice Residency Program unless it is accredited by the American Academy of Family Physicians and meets the standards and guidelines established by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Accreditation for the purpose of this chapter includes provisional accreditation where necessary to initially establish a new residency program.

The board shall allocate the funds appropriated through the Public Health Department for Family Practice Rural Health Programs. The health department shall distribute the funds as allocated by the board except for sufficient amounts necessary to cover the per diem, mileage and printing cost associated with the board's activities. The board shall make allocations from the available revenue for existing Family Practice Residency Programs or any like program which may be hereafter created, provided such a program meets the criteria specified in Section 22-4A-4. The board is further authorized to allocate funds and make grants for the recruitment of physicians with such specialties necessary to meet the requirements of this chapter; to track students in physician residency specialty training programs; for the recruitment of physicians to locate in medically underserved areas; to fund health fairs for the recruitment of physicians or other medical personnel for underserved areas; to fund and provide for Medical Preceptorship Programs; to fund and provide for out of state rotations for residency training; and to fund essential studies, assessments or matters within the authority of the board.

The board shall assist in identifying any unmet needs relating to the medically underserved rural areas of the state and any available resources that could be applied toward those needs. The board shall submit an annual report to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Speaker of the House, chairman of each of the health committees and the State Health Officer of the disbursement of all funds, accomplishments toward meeting the unmet needs in the rural areas and the goals for the next fiscal year.

Nothing in this chapter is intended or shall be construed as granting the board any governing or administrative authority over any programs administered by any university medical school in this state or any other program established pursuant to state law.