(a) In administering the National Health Service Corps State Loan Repayment Program in accordance with Section 254q-1 of Title 42 of the United States Code and related federal regulations, the Department of Health Care Access and Information shall strive, whenever feasible, to equitably distribute loan repayment awards between eligible urban and rural program sites, after taking into account the availability of health care services in the communities to be served and the number of individuals to be served in each program site.
(b) The department shall set a reasonable deadline for when all applications are required to be received.
(c) All eligible applications shall be given consideration before any award is granted.
(d) The department shall include all federally qualified health centers located in California in the program’s certified eligible site list.
(e) As part of a program applicant’s initial application, program sites shall agree to provide matching funds.