38 U.S.C. § 8201 — Coordination with public health programs; administration

The Secretary^* and the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall, to the maximum extent practicable, coordinate the programs carried out under this chapter and the programs carried out under titles VII, VIII, and IX of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 292 et seq.).

The Secretary may not enter into any agreement under subchapter I of this chapter after September 30, 1979.

The Secretary, after consultation with the special medical advisory committee established pursuant to section 7312(a) of this title, shall prescribe regulations covering the terms and conditions for entering into agreements and making grants under this chapter.

Payments made pursuant to grants under this chapter may be made in installments, and either in advance or by way of reimbursement, with necessary adjustments on account of overpayments or underpayments, as the Secretary may determine.

In carrying out the purposes of this chapter, the Secretary may lease to any eligible institution for such consideration and under such terms and conditions as the Secretary deems appropriate, such land, buildings, and structures (including equipment therein) under the control and jurisdiction of the Department^* as may be necessary. The three-year limitation on the term of a lease prescribed in section 8122(a) of this title shall not apply with respect to any lease entered into pursuant to this chapter, but no such lease may be for a period of more than 50 years. Any lease entered into pursuant to this chapter may be entered into without regard to the provisions of section 6101(b) to (d) of title 41. Notwithstanding section 1302 of title 40, or any other provision of law, a lease entered into pursuant to this chapter may provide for the maintenance, protection, or restoration, by the lessee, of the property leased, as a part or all of the consideration of the lease.

In making grants under this chapter, the Secretary shall give special consideration to applications from institutions which provide reasonable assurances, which shall be included in the grant agreement, that priority for admission to health manpower and training programs carried out by such institutions will be given to otherwise qualified veterans who during their military service acquired medical military occupation specialties, and that among such qualified veterans those who served during the Vietnam era^* and those who are entitled to disability compensation^* under laws administered by the Secretary or whose discharge or release^* was for a disability incurred or aggravated in line of duty will be given the highest priority. In carrying out this chapter and section 7302 of this title in connection with health manpower and training programs assisted or conducted under this title or in affiliation with a Department medical facility, the Secretary shall take appropriate steps to encourage the institutions involved to afford the priorities described in the first sentence of this subsection and to advise all qualified veterans with such medical military occupation specialties of the steps the Secretary has taken under this subsection and the opportunities available to them as a result of such steps.