12 2 STA T .4 12 6PUBLIC LA W 11 0–387—O CT. 10 , 2008 Departm e n t h ea l th c are pr ovid er s providin g health services u nder the pilot program .( h )REPORTS . —N ot later than the 30 da y sa f ter the end of each year in w hich the pilot program under this section is con - ducted , the S ecretary shall su b mit to the C ommittee of V eterans ’A ffairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the H ouse of Representatives a report which includes— ( 1 ) the assessment of the Secretary of the pilot program during the preceding year, including its cost, volume, q uality, patient satisfaction, benefit to veterans, and such other findings and conclusions with respect to pilot program as the Secretary considers appropriate
and ( 2 ) such recommendations as the Secretary considers appro- priate regarding— (A) the continuation of the pilot program; ( B )e x tension of the pilot program to other or all Vet- erans I ntegrated Service Networ k s of the Department; (C) making the pilot program permanent. SEC.40 4.E PIL EPS Y CE NT E R S OF E X CELLENCE. (a) I NG ENER AL .—Subchapter II of chapter 7 3 is amended by adding at the end the following new section
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‘ §73 3 0A.Epile p syc e nt e r s of e x cellence ‘ ‘(a) E STA B L I S HM ENT O F CENTERS.—(1) Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of the Veterans’ M ental Health and O ther Care Improvements Act of 200 8 , the Secretary shall designate at least four but not more than six Department health care facilities as locations for epilepsy centers of excellence for the Department. ‘‘(2) Of the facilities designated under paragraph (1), not less than two shall be centers designated under section 7327 of this title. ‘‘(3) Of the facilities designated under paragraph (1), not less than two shall be facilities that are not centers designated under section 7327 of this title. ‘‘( 4 ) Sub j ect to the availability of appropriations for such pur- pose, the Secretary shall establish and operate an epilepsy center of excellence at each location designated under paragraph (1). ‘‘(b) DESI G NATION OF F A C ILITIES.—(1) In designating locations for epilepsy centers of excellence under subsection (a), the Secretary shall solicit proposals from Department health care facilities seeking designation as a location for an epilepsy center of excellence. ‘‘(2) T he Secretary may not designate a facility as a location for an epilepsy center of excellence under subsection (a) unless the peer review panel established under subsection (c) has deter- mined under that subsection that the proposal submitted by such facility seeking designation as a location for an epilepsy center of excellence is among those proposals that meet the highest competitive standards of scientific and clinical merit. ‘‘(3) In choosing from among the facilities meeting the require- ments of paragraph (2), the Secretary shall also consider appro- priate geographic distribution when designating the epilepsy centers of excellence under subsection (a). ‘‘(c) P EER RE V IE W PANEL.—(1) The U nder Secretary for Health shall establish a peer review panel to assess the scientific and clinical merit of proposals that are submitted to the Secretary Deadlin e .
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