(a) (1) There is hereby established in the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development the California Pharmacist Scholarship and Loan Repayment Program.

(2) The program shall provide scholarships to pay for the educational expenses of pharmacy school students and repay qualifying educational loans of pharmacists who agree to participate in designated medically underserved areas as provided in this section.

(b) The Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development shall administer the California Pharmacist Scholarship and Loan Repayment Program utilizing the same general guidelines applicable to the federal National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program established pursuant to Section 254l of Title 42 of the United States Code and the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program established pursuant to Section 254l-1 of Title 42 of the United States Code, except as follows:

(1) A pharmacist or pharmacy school student shall be eligible to participate in the program if he or she agrees to provide pharmacy services in a practice site located in areas of the state where unmet priority needs for primary care family physicians exist as determined by the Health Workforce Policy Commission.

(2) No matching funds shall be required from any entity in the practice site area.

(c) This section shall be implemented only to the extent that sufficient moneys are available in the California Pharmacist Scholarship and Loan Repayment Program Fund to administer the program.

(Amended by Stats. 2006, Ch. 259, Sec. 4. Effective January 1, 2007.)