HRSA strongly encourages all health centers to review and utilize the Compliance Manual, the SVP, and all other site visit resources to prepare for site visits and to help regularly assess and assure ongoing compliance with the Health Center Program. For health centers with a 3-year project/designation period, the OSV will take place 14–18 months into the project/designation period. For health centers with a 1-year project/designation period, the OSV will take place 2–4 months into the project/designation period. HRSA conducts OSVs at least once per project/designation period. Such recommendations/technical assistance information will not be included in the final site visit report. In addition to assessing compliance with all Health Center Program requirements, the SVP also includes a section for identification, as applicable, of promising practices.ĭuring the OSV, at the health center’s request, the site visit team may share recommendations or limited technical assistance on various areas of health center operations that fall outside the scope of the compliance review. The SVP is designed to provide HRSA the information necessary to perform its oversight responsibilities using a standard and transparent methodology that aligns with the Compliance Manual. The Health Center Program Site Visit Protocol (SVP) is the tool for assessing compliance with Health Center Program requirements during OSVs. HRSA uses the Health Center Program Compliance Manual (“Compliance Manual”) as the basis for determining whether health centers have demonstrated compliance with the statutory and regulatory requirements of the Health Center Program. For the purposes of this document, the term “health center” refers to entities that apply for or receive a federal award under section 330 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act (including section 330 (e), (g), (h) and (i)), section 330 subrecipients, and organizations designated as look-alikes.

In addition, HRSA conducts site visits to assess and verify look-alike initial designation applicants for eligibility and compliance with Health Center Program requirements to inform initial designation determinations. Operational Site Visits (OSVs) provide an objective assessment and verification of the status of each Health Center Program awardee or look-alike’s compliance with the statutory and regulatory requirements of the Health Center Program. The purpose of Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) site visits 1 is to support the effective oversight of the Health Center Program.

Svp range 7 to 8