(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

1. (1) There are small health care facilities throughout the state that are in critical need of capital improvements to continue to provide quality health care services.
2. (2) Some of these facilities currently lack the ability to take on debt and have little access to capital.
3. (3) This lack of access to capital threatens the quality and accessibility of the services provided by health care facilities and hampers their ability to gain the financial strength to better access the capital markets.
4. (4) The state’s health care system is reliant upon those health care facilities that treat low-income, uninsured, or vulnerable populations, such as the developmentally disabled, the elderly, the mentally ill, emotionally disturbed children, and the chemically dependent.
5. (5) The grant program provided in this section is in the public interest, serves a public purpose, and will promote the health, welfare, and safety of the citizens of the state.

(c) The authority shall develop selection criteria and a process for awarding grants under this section. When developing the selection criteria for the awarding of grants under this section, the authority shall take into consideration all of the following factors:

1. (1) The need for the grant based on the applicant’s total net assets.
2. (2) Whether the grant will leverage additional dollars to complete the project.
3. (3) The importance and level of services to vulnerable populations that will be generated.
4. (4) The level of access to capital by the applicant.
5. (5) Demonstration by the applicant of project readiness and feasibility.
6. (6) Total dollars available for purposes of this section.