Chapter 21 – Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Health Center Program Compliance Manual is no longer part of the Operational Site Visit (OSV) Process. On October 24, 2023, guidance was released to consultants conducting OSVs indicating the FTCA assessment process within the OSV would be discontinued for OSVs with start dates after October 27, 2023.  As a result, to ensure system consistency, health centers will now see all responses within Chapter 21 – FTCA are marked as “yes,” on the OSV report, until the FTCA assessment questions are removed from the Electronic Handbooks (EHBs) system.  The “yes” responses are not reflective of any type of FTCA assessment completed by the OSV team.  Additionally, health centers will see a generic narrative response in all comment/explanation fields of the FTCA assessment reflecting the discontinuation of the FTCA assessment, as part of the OSV process.  

As a result of the discontinuation of the FTCA assessment, health centers will no longer need to provide documentation for the FTCA Deeming Requirements section of the HRSA Health Center Program Site Visit Protocol when preparing for an OSV.  It is important for health centers to remember they must maintain compliance with all FTCA requirements, including documentation previously required for the FTCA assessment within the OSV process, if they are currently FTCA deemed or are preparing to submit an initial application. 

Health centers with questions or in need of additional clarification are encouraged to utilize the Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC) Contact Form (BPHC Contact Form).