RURAL Veterans Act

Recruiting in Underserved Rural Areas and Localities for Veterans Act or the RURAL Veterans Act

This bill addresses the recruitment of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care professionals in rural areas. Specifically, the bill requires the VA to establish the Office of Rural Recruitment to improve the recruitment of health care professionals for rural and highly rural community-based outpatient clinics and medical centers of the VA.

The bill also requires the director of each Veterans Integrated Service Network that contains at least one rural or highly rural community-based outpatient clinic to annually develop and maintain a strategy to recruit health care professionals.

The Office of Rural Recruitment shall conduct a study on the feasibility of a scholarship program for health care professionals to attend the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in exchange for service as full-time employees at a rural or highly rural community-based outpatient clinic or medical center of the VA for a specified period of time.

The VA shall establish the Rural Health Quality and Access Fellowship program to provide fellowships to health care professionals at the graduate or post-graduate level who serve on a short-term basis as full-time employees at a rural or highly rural community-based outpatient clinic or medical center of the VA and conduct research on (1) improving the quality of rural health care, (2) access to health care in rural areas, and (3) recruitment and retention of health care professionals in rural areas.