Health Care Workforce Innovation Act of 2025

The proposed "Health Care Workforce Innovation Act of 2025" seeks to amend the Public Health Service Act by establishing a new Health Care Workforce Innovation Program. This program is designed to foster and support innovative, community-driven strategies for the education and training of allied health professionals. Its primary goal is to increase the availability of these crucial healthcare workers, especially in underserved communities and rural areas facing shortages. Eligible entities for grants or contracts under this program include Federally qualified health centers, certified rural health clinics, and accredited nonprofit post-secondary vocational programs. Applicants must submit detailed proposals outlining their community-driven model, the specific allied health professions to be funded, and the geographic service area to be served, demonstrating a need for increased access to healthcare. Funds can be utilized for various purposes, such as establishing partnerships with educational institutions, providing training to improve readiness in underserved settings, encouraging students from disadvantaged backgrounds, and developing pre-apprenticeship or apprenticeship programs. The program prioritizes applicants whose models increase the number of individuals from underserved backgrounds in healthcare professions, improve access to care in underserved communities, or demonstrate replicability and cost-efficiency. Grantees are required to submit periodic reports detailing the findings and outcomes of their innovative models. The bill broadly defines "allied health professional" to include a wide range of clinical and non-clinical support roles, and authorizes necessary appropriations for fiscal years 2026 through 2028, with individual grants not exceeding $2,500,000.