1. For purposes of this section, the term “board” shall mean the state board of health and senior services established under section 191.400.

2. Subject to appropriations, the board shall establish a program to award grants for the establishment of umbilical cord blood banks to be located in this state and for the expansion of existing umbilical cord blood banks located in this state. The purposes and activities of umbilical cord blood banks eligible for grants for this program shall be directed towards gathering, collecting, and preserving umbilical cord and placental blood only from live births and providing such blood and blood components primarily to recipients who are unrelated to the donors of the blood, and towards persons and institutions conducting scientific research requiring sources of human stem cells.

3. The board shall, by rule, establish eligibility criteria for awarding grants under this section. In awarding grants, the board shall consider:

(1) The ability of the applicant to establish, operate, and maintain an umbilical cord blood bank and to provide related services;

(2) The experience of the applicant in operating similar facilities; and

(3) The applicant’s commitment to continue to operate and maintain an umbilical cord blood bank after the expiration of the terms of the contract required by subsection 4 of this section.

4. Recipients of grants awarded shall enter into contracts under which each recipient agrees to:

(1) Operate and maintain an umbilical cord blood bank in this state at least until the eighth anniversary of the date of the award of the grant;

(2) Gather, collect, and preserve umbilical cord blood only from live births; and

(3) Comply with any financial or reporting requirements imposed on the recipient under rules adopted by the board.

5. The grants authorized under this section shall be awarded subject to funds specifically appropriated for that purpose.