Competitive grants for trauma centers

The Secretary, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, shall award not fewer than 4 multiyear contracts or competitive grants to eligible entities to support pilot projects to design, implement, and evaluate new or existing innovative models of regionalized, comprehensive, and accountable emergency medical and trauma systems, and improve access to trauma care within such systems. In this section: The term “eligible entity” means— The term “region” means an area within a State, an area that lies within multiple States, or a similar area (such as a multicounty area), as determined by the Secretary. The term “emergency services” includes acute, prehospital, and trauma care. The Secretary shall award a contract or grant under subsection (a) to an eligible entity to design, implement, and evaluate a new or existing emergency medical and trauma system. Such eligible entity shall use amounts awarded under this subsection to carry out 2 or more of the following activities: Supporting a consistent region-wide prehospital, hospital, and interfacility data management system that— An eligible entity that seeks a contract or grant described in subsection (a) shall submit to the Secretary an application at such time and in such manner as the Secretary may require. Each application shall include— an assurance from the eligible entity that the applicable emergency medical and trauma system system— 11 So in original. The Secretary may not make a grant under this section unless the State (or consortia of States) involved agrees, with respect to the costs to be incurred by the State (or consortia) in carrying out the purpose for which such grant was made, to make available non-Federal contributions (in cash or in kind under paragraph (2)) toward such costs in an amount equal to not less than $1 for each $3 of Federal funds provided in the grant. Such contributions may be made directly or through donations from public or private entities. Non-Federal contributions required in paragraph (1) may be in cash or in kind, fairly evaluated, including equipment or services (and excluding indirect or overhead costs). Amounts provided by the Federal Government, or services assisted or subsidized to any significant extent by the Federal Government, may not be included in determining the amount of such non-Federal contributions. The matching requirement described in paragraph (1) shall take effect on October 1, 2025. The Secretary shall give priority for the award of the contracts or grants described in subsection (a) to any eligible entity that serves a medically underserved population (as defined in section 254b(b)(3) of this title). Not later than 90 days after the completion of a pilot project under subsection (a), the recipient of such contract or grant shall submit to the Secretary a report containing the results of an evaluation of the program, including an identification of— Not later than 1 year after the completion of the final project under subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives a report describing the information contained in each report submitted pursuant to subsection (g) and any additional actions planned by the Secretary related to regionalized emergency care and trauma systems.