Any agreement for the payment of recruitment assistance pursuant to §§ 34-12G-10 to 34-12G-17, inclusive, shall obligate the rural health care facility employing the health care professional to provide a portion of the total amount of recruitment incentives based on the following criteria: rural health care facilities in communities of two thousand five hundred persons or less shall provide twenty-five percent of recruitment incentive payments, and rural health care facilities in communities of greater than two thousand five hundred persons shall provide fifty percent of recruitment incentive payments. When the rural health care facility certifies to the secretary of health that it has paid the full amount for which it is obligated, the secretary of health shall pay to the health care professional the remaining balance of the total incentive amount. The secretary shall pay the required amount out of funds appropriated by the Legislature for such purpose. The incentive shall be paid upon the health care professional’s completion of the required three-year practice period. However, a rural health facility may pay its portion of the incentive at any time during the three-year period.

Source: SL 2012, ch 180, § 5.