Sen. Doris Turner | Courtesy photo
Sen. Doris Turner | Courtesy photo
State Sen. Doris Turner (D-Decatur) is promoting Senate Bill 3017 to bring medical professionals to rural areas.
“Passing this bill will mean that people across the state will have an increased access to high quality health care,” Turner wrote on her website. “We must work to improve access to quality care in rural Illinois.”
Senate Bill 3017 redefines the Designated Shortage Area in the Underserved Physician Workforce Act to include government-owned, privately-owned, or provider-based rural health clinics or hospitals.
According to Turner's website, physicians working in private clinics, at times in underserved areas, are not currently eligible for loan forgiveness even though they sometimes work in underserved areas. Senate Bill 3017 will ensure that the physicians who work in private rural health facilities also receive loan forgiveness.
The budget proposal unveiled by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in February has a focus on improving healthcare.
According to a press release from the governor’s office, it waives licensing fees for nearly 470,000 frontline healthcare workers, It also allocates $180 million to preserve and expand the healthcare workforce, through Medicaid providers — focusing on underserved and rural areas, $140 million to mental health care providers through rate enhancements, $70 million to 9-8-8 call centers and crisis response services for mental health issues and $25 million to expand the pipeline of nurses through the Illinois Community College Board.
SB 3017 passed the Senate and will move to the House for further consideration.
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