S-6040.1
SENATE BILL 6360
State of Washington
69th Legislature
2026 Regular Session
By Senator Hasegawa
AN ACT Relating to establishing the family medicine residency training grant program; amending RCW 82.26.020 ; reenacting and amending RCW 43.79A.040 and 43.79A.040 ; adding a new chapter to Title 70 RCW; creating a new section; providing an effective date; and providing an expiration date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature finds that due to a shortage of primary care physicians, many rural and economically disadvantaged urban communities are medically underserved.
(2) The legislature further finds that the Washington state department of health has established individuals living in rural areas of Washington state are more likely to suffer from preventable conditions and engage in activities that threaten health, such as smoking cigarettes, and according to the United States centers for disease control and prevention, communities of color, who live in greater numbers in underserved urban areas, experience higher rates of obesity, cancer, diabetes, and AIDS.
(3) The legislature finds community health centers provide valuable primary and preventive health care services for people living in rural and urban medically underserved communities, and such service is provided regardless of a patient's ability to pay.