Veteran Infection Prevention Act

This Act may be cited as the “Veteran Infection Prevention Act”.

(a) Requirement.— To be eligible to be appointed to a sterile processing technician position (except for such a position that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs determines is entry level), a person must be certified as a sterile processing technician by an accredited institution engaged in providing sterile processing technician training not later than two years after such an appointment.

(b) Current employees.—

(1) Applicability.— Subsection (a) shall apply to a covered employee on the day that is 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act.

(2) Employee Incentive Scholarship Program.—

(A) Requirement.— The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall award to a covered employee a scholarship under subchapter VI of chapter 76 of title 38, United States Code, for certification described in section 7402(b)(14) of such title, as amended by subsection (a).

(B) Period of obligated service.— Notwithstanding section 7672(e) of such title, the period of obligated service of a covered employee awarded a scholarship pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be a period of one day beginning on the day that the covered employee receives such certification.

(3) Covered employee defined.— In this subsection, the term “covered employee” means a person—

(A) occupying a sterile processing technician position in the Veterans Health Administration on the date of the enactment of this Act; and

(B) who, on such date, is not certified as a sterile processing technician by an accredited institution engaged in providing sterile processing technician training.

(c) Termination.— This section shall have no effect after September 30, 2028.

Section 5503(d)(7) of title 38, United States Code, is amended by striking “January 31, 2033” and inserting “September 30, 2034”.