124 STAT. 649 PUBLIC LAW 111–148—MAR. 23, 2010 innovative supportive activities to enhance education through dis- tance learning, continuing educational activities, collaborative con- ferences, and electronic and telelearning activities, with priority for primary care. ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION.—There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $5,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2010 through 2014, and such sums as may be necessary for each subsequent fiscal year.’’. SEC. 5404. WORKFORCE DIVERSITY GRANTS. Section 821 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 296m) is amended— (1) in subsection (a)— (A) by striking ‘‘The Secretary may’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may’’; (B) by striking ‘‘pre-entry preparation, and retention activities’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘stipends for diploma or associate degree nurses to enter a bridge or degree completion program, student scholarships or stipends for accelerated nursing degree programs, pre-entry prepara- tion, advanced education preparation, and retention activi- ties’’; and (2) in subsection (b)— (A) by striking ‘‘First’’ and all that follows through ‘‘including the’’ and inserting ‘‘National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice and consult with nursing associations including the National Coalition of Ethnic Minority Nurse Associations,’’; and (B) by inserting before the period the following: ‘‘, and other organizations determined appropriate by the Sec- retary’’. SEC. 5405. PRIMARY CARE EXTENSION PROGRAM. Part P of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280g et seq.), as amended by section 5313, is further amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘SEC. 399W. PRIMARY CARE EXTENSION PROGRAM. ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT, PURPOSE AND DEFINITION.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through the Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, shall establish a Primary Care Extension Program. ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The Primary Care Extension Program shall provide support and assistance to primary care providers to educate providers about preventive medicine, health promotion, chronic disease management, mental and behavioral health services (including substance abuse prevention and treatment services), and evidence-based and evidence-informed therapies and techniques, in order to enable providers to incorporate such matters into their practice and to improve community health by working with community-based health connectors (referred to in this section as ‘Health Extension Agents’). ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: ‘‘(A) HEALTH EXTENSION AGENT.—The term ‘Health Extension Agent’ means any local, community-based health worker who facilitates and provides assistance to primary care practices by implementing quality improvement or 42 USC 280g–12.
