42 U.S.C. § 254h — Provision of health services by Corps members

(a) Means of delivery of services: Corps members must use whatever methods, facilities, and setups work best for the specific area, population, or facility they're serving. As much as possible, they must serve everyone in that shortage area, no matter if the person can pay. They must also work together with other health care providers already serving that area, not against them. (b) Utilization of existing health facilities: The Secretary can, despite any other law, do several things to support Corps members: (A) arrange for Corps members to use health facilities that already exist in or serve the shortage area; (B) arrange to use the Public Health Service's own equipment and supplies, or lease or buy other equipment and supplies; and (C) hire doctors, dentists, nurses, administrators, and other health staff, either permanently or temporarily. If there's no health facility in the area, the Secretary can instead have Corps members work out of the nearest Service facility, or lease or otherwise set up a facility in the area. Separately, if a hospital or other Service facility already serves the people in a shortage area, the Secretary can arrange for Corps members to use that facility too — but only as long as doing so doesn't hurt the care given to people who are already entitled to be treated there. (c) Loan: The Secretary may give one loan to any entity whose application was approved under section 254f, to help pay for (1) starting a medical, dental, or other health practice, including setting up practice management systems, (2) buying equipment to provide health services, or (3) renovating buildings into health facilities. The entity must apply, and the Secretary must approve the application, before any loan is made. The Secretary decides the loan amount, but it can never be more than $50,000. (d) Property and equipment disposal: Once all Corps members finish their assignment to a shortage area, the Secretary can sell the equipment and other government property they used there to an appropriate local entity. These sales must normally happen at fair market value, as the Secretary determines it. But the Secretary can sell for less than full value if the local entity truly cannot afford to pay full price. (e) Admitting privileges denied to Corps member by hospital: (1) It is against the law for a hospital to refuse to give an authorized Corps member admitting privileges, as long as that Corps member meets the hospital's normal professional qualifications and agrees to follow the hospital's and its medical staff's published rules. If the Secretary finds, after notice and a hearing, that a hospital broke this rule, that hospital must stop receiving — and becomes ineligible to receive — federal funds under this chapter or under Medicare, Medicaid, or CHIP (titles XVIII, XIX, or XXI of the Social Security Act), for however long the Secretary decides. (2) For this subsection, "hospital" means a state or local public hospital, a private for-profit hospital, a private nonprofit hospital, a general or special hospital, or any other kind of hospital and its related facilities — except a hospital owned or run by the federal government.