Title 42

SECTION 51c.102

51c.102 Definitions.

§ 51c.102 Definitions.

As used in this part:

(a) Act means the Public Health Service Act.

(b) Catchment area means the area served by a project funded under section 330 of the Act.

(c)(1) Community health center or center means an entity which, through its staff and supporting resources or through contracts or cooperative arrangements with other public or private entities, provides for all residents of its catchment area:

(i) Primary health services;

(ii) As determined by the Secretary to be appropriate for particular centers, supplemental health services necessary for the adequate support of primary health services;

(iii) Referral to providers of supplemental health services and payment, as determined by the Secretary to be appropriate and feasible, for their provision of such services;

(iv) Environmental health services, as determined by the Secretary to be appropriate for particular centers; and

(v) Information on the availability and proper use of health services.

(2) For purposes of paragraph (c)(1) of this section, the provision of a given service by a center will be determined by the Secretary to be appropriate where:

(i) There is a need, as determined by the Secretary, for the provision of such service in the catchment area; and

(ii) The provision of such service by the center is feasible, taking into consideration the center's projected revenues, other resources, and grant support under this part.

(d) Environmental health services means the detection and alleviation of unhealthful conditions of the environment of the catchment area, such as problems associated with water supply, sewage treatment, solid waste disposal, rodent and parasite infestation, and housing conditions. For the purposes of this part, the detection and alleviation of unhealthful conditions of the environment includes the notification of and making of arrangements with appropriate Federal, State, or local authorities responsible for correcting such conditions.

(e) Medically underserved population means the population of an urban or rural area designated by the Secretary as an area with a shortage of personal health services or a population group designated by the Secretary as having a shortage of such services. Medically underserved areas will be designated by the Secretary and a list of those designated will be published in the Federal Register from time to time, taking into consideration the following factors, among others:

(1) Available health resources in relation to size of the area and its population, including appropriate ratios of primary care physicians in general or family practice, internal medicine, pediatrics, or obstetrics and gynecology to population;

(2) Health indices for the population of the area, such as infant mortality rate;

(3) Economic factors affecting the population's access to health services, such as percentage of the population with incomes below the poverty level; and

(4) Demographic factors affecting the population's need and demand for health services, such as percentage of the population age 65 and over.

(f) Nonprofit, as applied to any private agency, institution, or organization, means one which is a corporation or association, or is owned and operated by one or more corporations or associations, no part of the net earnings of which inures, or may lawfully inure, to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.

(g) Physician means a licensed doctor of medicine or doctor of osteopathy.

(h) Primary health services means:

(1) Diagnostic, treatment, consultative, referral, and other services rendered by physicians, and, where feasible, by physician's extenders, such as physicians' assistants, nurse clinicians, and nurse practitioners;

(2) Diagnostic laboratory services and diagnostic radiologic services;

(3) Preventive health services, including medical social services, nutritional assessment and referral, preventive health education, children's eye and ear examinations, prenatal and post-partum care, prenatal services, well child care (including periodic screening), immunizations, and voluntary family planning services;

(4) Emergency medical services, including provision, through clearly defined arrangements, for access of users of the center to health care for medical emergencies during and after the center's regularly scheduled hours;

(5) Transportation services as needed for adequate patient care, sufficient so that residents of the catchment area served by the center with special difficulties of access to services provided by the center receive such services; and

(6) Preventive dental services provided by a licensed dentist or other qualified personnel, including (i) oral hygiene instruction; (ii) oral prophylaxis, as necessary; and (iii) topical application of fluorides, and the prescription of fluorides for systemic use when not available in the community water supply.

(i) Secretary means the Secretary of Health and Human Services and any other officer or employee of the Department of Health and Human Services to whom the authority involved has been delegated.

(j) Supplemental health services means health services which are not included as primary health services and which are:

(1) Inpatient and outpatient hospital services;

(2) Home health services;

(3) Extended care facility services;

(4) Rehabilitative services (including physical and occupational therapy) and long-term physical medicine;

(5) Mental health services, including services of psychiatrists, psychologists, and other appropriate mental health professionals;

(6) Dental services other than those provided as primary health services;

(7) Vision services, including routine eye and vision examinations and provision of eyeglasses, as appropriate and feasible;

(8) Allied health services;

(9) Pharmaceutical services, including the provision of prescription drugs;

(10) Therapeutic radiologic services;

(11) Public health services (including nutrition education and social services);

(12) Ambulatory surgical services;

(13) Health education services; and

(14) Services, including the services of outreach workers, which promote and facilitate optimal use of primary health services and services referred to in the preceding subparagraphs of this paragraph and, if a substantial number of individuals in the population served by the center are of limited English-speaking ability, the services of outreach workers and other personnel fluent in the language or languages spoken by such individuals.