Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 195-14-.01 - General Definitions
(1) "Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce"
means the organization and its office created under O.C.G.A. §49-10.
(2) "Loan" refers to the service repayable
grant awarded by the Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce to applicants who
are desirous of becoming dentists practicing dentistry in rural areas of
Georgia.
(3) "Loan Repayment"
refers to repayment of all or a portion of recipient's outstanding dental
education loan debt. Qualifying debt is held by an established lending
institution, identifiable as originating from the debt incurred to obtain a
dental education and fully disclosed at the time of application.
(4) "Qualified Debt" is any debt incurred to
obtain a dental education, fully disclosed at the time of application, and is
currently not in default. Even if a creditor now considers the defaulted loan
to be in good standing, such debt shall not be considered Qualified
Debt.
(5) "Dental Education Loan
Debt" refers to loans incurred by the applicant to finance his/her dental
education that remains unpaid during the contract period.
(6) "Eligible and Qualified Applicant" refers
to, as minimum qualifications, a dentist with outstanding dental education loan
debt, licensed to practice dentistry in the State of Georgia who desires to
serve in a Board-approved, rural area of Georgia.
(7) "Dental School" means an institution of
dental education that received accreditation or provisional accreditation by
the American Dental Association's Commission on Dental Accreditation for a
program in dental education designed to qualify the graduate for licensure by
the Georgia Board of Dentistry.
(8)
"Recipient" means any person who receives any amount of funding from the
Dentists for Rural Areas Assistance Program of the Georgia Board of Health Care
Workforce.
(9) "Service Repayment"
means the period of service earned by the dentist, as approved by the Board,
toward repayment of the service cancelable loan in professional dental services
rendered by the recipient and as required under the provisions of the loan
contract.
(10) "Credit" means that
amount of time credited to the recipient for services rendered in compliance
with the provisions of the contract. Credit is typically applied one year of
funding for each year of service rendered in compliance with the repayment
provisions of the contract.
(11)
"Rural and Underserved Area" is defined as a Board approved rural county in
Georgia of 50,000 population or less according to the United States decennial
census of 2010 or any future such census or at any hospital or facility
operated by or under jurisdiction of the Department of Public Health,
Department of Community Health, Department of Behavioral Health and
Developmental Disabilities, Department of Human Resources, Department of
Corrections or the Department of Juvenile Justice. Facilities falling under
jurisdiction of the mentioned state agencies must include dental employment by
approved agency or, in case of contracted employment, the dentist must be
treating patients of the approved agency with equal provisions given to that
agency's missions.
(12) "Contract
Renewal" means the yearly renewal of the loan repayment contract between the
recipient and the Board. The contract period shall be renewable on a one-year
basis for a period not exceeding four years and a total amount not exceeding
$100,000.
(13) "Award Amount"
refers to the annual amount obligated to a loan repayment recipient. The award
amount shall be determined by the Board. At its annual meeting, the Board may,
within its discretion, set the award amount for new loans within the limit of
the appropriated funds for the budget year. Said amount shall be set forth in
the official minutes of the Board.
(14) "Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce"
means that agency of Georgia State Government created under O.C.G.A. §
49-10-1, whose purpose is to
address the health care workforce needs of Georgia's communities through the
support and development of medical education programs and to increase the
number of physicians and health care practitioners practicing in underserved
rural areas.
(15) "Default" means
breach of contract by the recipient in failing to begin or failing to complete
the contractual service obligation of the Dentists for Rural Areas Assistance
Program.
(16) "Ad Damnum or Double
Damages" refers to the penalty resulting from a loan repayment recipient
defaulting on their contractual obligations. Default requires immediate
repayment of double the total principal amount received less any pro-rated
amount for repaid service as provided in the contract.
(17) "Cancellation of Contract" refers to the
discretionary power of the Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce to cancel any
contract for cause deemed sufficient by the Board, provided such authority is
not exercised unreasonably or arbitrarily.
(18) "Full Time" refers to the minimum number
of hours of work required per week to fulfill service obligations. Full time is
considered at least 32 clinical hours providing direct patient care during
normal clinic hours at the approved practice site. Remaining hours must be
spent providing practice-related administrative activities. On-call hours are
not considered part of the full time requirement. No more than 7 weeks (35
workdays) per year can be spent away from the practice for vacation, holidays,
continuing professional education, illness or any other reason. Absences
greater than 7 weeks a year will extend the service commitment.
(19) "Compelling Reasons" refers to
conditions such as a life threatening illness or loss of ability to practice
dentistry or to be gainfully employed due to illness or accident. The Board may
consent to a lesser measure of damages for compelling reasons.
Notes
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