California congressmen introduce bills to address physician shortage Two important bills have been introduced in Congress to address our state’s serious physician shortage and improve access to care in California. The first bill, the Training the Next Generation of Primary Care Doctors Act of 2017 (HR 3394), would reauthorize for an additional three years the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education (GME) program that was established by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Teaching Health Center program is a community-based primary care physician training program that has been extremely successful in expanding the physician workforce in underserved areas. This bill would also expand the number of residency positions available within existing teaching health centers and establish sustainable funding. This bill has bipartisan cosponsorship by California Congressmen Raul Ruiz, M.D. (D-Palm Springs), Jeff Denham (R-Modesto) and David Valadao (R-Fresno). The second bill, the Comprehensive Additional Residency Expansion Act (HR 3451), introduced by Congressman Jeff Denham (R-Modesto) and sponsored by the California Medical Association (CMA), would build on HR 3394. The Teaching Health Center GME program currently supports 742 residents at 59 teaching health centers. This bill would add an additional 240 residency slots to train new physicians and authorize 10 new teaching health centers. It would also require the new teaching health centers be located in areas with a disproportionate share of Medicaid patients to help alleviate physician shortages and access to care in underserved regions. These bills are critically important because California is experiencing a severe shortage of primary care physicians, particularly in the rural and Central Valley regions of the state. Our state has one of the lowest primary care physician to patient ratios in the nation. Only 10 percent of physicians practice in rural areas nationwide, although 25 percent of the population resides in these regions. Training more physicians to meet the growing demands of an aging population with multiple chronic conditions is a CMA priority. We support efforts to encourage more physicians to practice in underserved areas to improve access to care. The underserved Central Valley region of California in particular has experienced difficulty attracting and retaining physicians. Data shows that most physicians set down roots in the areas where they train and remain there after their training to care for their communities. These two bills will help to create a new generation of rural physicians and ensure that patients in those areas have access to essential preventive and primary care to diagnose and treat health problems early. These are important bills that represent a practical approach to improving the physician shortage crisis and access to care challenges in California’s underserved areas. August 9, 2017 General Federal Legislation, Federal Legislative Advocacy , Graduate Medical Education, Physician Workforce, Primary Care, Rural Health, Underserved Communities 0 0 Comment Read More »
Guillermo J. Valenzuela Foundation Awards $180,00 in Grants to Inland Groups Serving Families, Women in Need Guillermo J. Valenzuela Foundation Awards $180,000 in Grants to Inland Groups Serving Families, Women in Need Grants by Inland-based foundation support its mission to improve the health of underserved communities in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. (San Bernardino, CA) -- The Guillermo J. Valenzuela Foundation announced today that it has awarded $180,000 in grants to several local organizations that work to improve the health and well-being of underserved families and women in the Inland Empire. Founded and funded by longtime Inland physician Dr. Guillermo Valenzuela, the 2017 grant awards were provided to non-profit organizations whose activities align with the Foundation’s stated mission of expanding access to healthcare and improving quality care through research, grant-making, programs, partnerships and educational opportunities that help address the Inland Empire’s shortage of physicians and healthcare providers. “I am humbled that our Foundation’s grants are being awarded to groups that play such a critical role in improving the health, spirit and future opportunities of women and families in need across the Inland Empire,” Valenzuela said. “The support, services and care these organizations provide to the Inland community are absolutely vital and provide life-changing benefits.” The grants ranging from $15,000 to $25,000 were awarded to: Coachella Valley Volunteers in Medicine for their Women’s Wellness Programs to pay for testing and diagnostics for women receiving gynecological services. CompassPoint to contribute to the implementation of the Next Generation Leaders of Color – Inland Region program. Mid-level community leaders receive training and build skills to strengthen their capacity to make for more effective organizations and service delivery in the Inland Empire. El Sol Neighborhood Educational Center of San Bernardino for depression screening, counseling and treatment of almost 175 women, 65 years and older. Inland Behavioral and Health Services, Inc., of San Bernardino to purchase an Obstetrics and Gynecology Ultrasound Machine for their low-income prenatal patients to improve healthcare outcomes for new mothers and their babies. Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest in Coachella for its Youth Promotoras program, which helps educate and support local youths, teaching them to become community leaders and advocates for health, social justice and personal responsibility. Reach Out of Upland for its LIFE (Learning Inspired Field Experience) project of the Inland Health Professionals Coalition, which provides paid internship opportunities for low-income and underserved students to receive hands-on experience in professional healthcare settings. Southern California Public Radio to support its high-quality multimedia coverage of healthcare issues. Time for Change Foundation of San Bernardino to help provide accessibility to safe, affordable housing for homeless women and children. “We are truly thankful to the Valenzuela Foundation for supporting our LIFE program which encourages and empowers low-income students to pursue a career in healthcare,” said Carol Allbaugh, the director of the Inland Health Professions Coalition at Reach Out. “By nurturing new educational opportunities in healthcare, the Foundation is helping resolve the Inland Empire’s dire shortage of doctors.” Riverside tops the list for the worst birth-to-doctor ratio of obstetrician-gynecologists among 50 U.S. cities, according to a report released this month by Doximity. Recent studies by the California Health Care Foundation and others show that the Inland Empire has a significant shortage of doctors, with 120 physicians for every 100,000 residents, the lowest ratio of any major region in the state. Alexander Fajardo, executive director of El Sol Neighborhood Education Center, also expressed his appreciation to the Foundation for its support. “With this grant, we will be able to help up to 175 senior women in the Inland Empire who are struggling with depression or chronic disease. We are thankful to the Guillermo J. Valenzuela Foundation for its generosity and commitment to helping improve the lives of others,” Fajardo said. Dr. Valenzuela knows firsthand about overcoming adversity, and is a strong believer in giving back to the community. Born and raised in Chile, he overcame severe economic obstacles to become a successful physician and a leader in the Inland Empire’s medical community. The Valenzuela Foundation invites proposals requesting general operating or specific project support for work in the Inland Empire - San Bernardino and/or Riverside Counties - that align with the mission and vision described above, and focus on the current priorities, described below. Eligible organizations must be tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Emerging and developing as well as established programs / projects / organizations are eligible for funding. About The Guillermo J. Valenzuela Foundation The Guillermo J. Valenzuela Foundation is dedicated to improving the health of underserved communities in Southern California’s Inland Empire, San Bernardino and Riverside counties. The Foundation works to expand access to health care and improve quality care through research, education, grant-making, programs, and partnerships. The Foundation’s current priorities are: Women’s Health: Because women are the backbone of their families and our communities of the Inland Empire, ensuring they have access to providers and services is a priority of the Foundation. Increasing the Number of Medical Providers Committed to Practicing in the Inland Empire: Because the underserved communities in Southern California’s Inland Empire lack adequate networks of primary and specialty providers who live and work in our neighborhoods, increasing the number of Doctors of Medicine, Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine, Nurse Practitioners, and Physician’s Assistants is another priority of the Foundation. August 8, 2017 General Access to Health Care, Guillermo Valenzuela MD, Underserved Communities 0 0 Comment Read More »
California grapples with 'severe' doctor shortage, study shows California doesn't have enough doctors to handle its primary health care demands and the problem is getting worse. A new study by UCSF Healthforce Center finds that California doesn’t have enough primary care physicians in most regions of the state. According to the study, the shortage is becoming more acute because of an aging physician workforce, a growing patient population and expanded coverage through the Affordable Care Act. According to the study, only two regions of California (the Greater Bay Area and Sacramento) have ratios of primary care physicians per population above the minimum ratio recommended by the Council on Graduate Medical Education (60 primary care physicians per 100,000 people). The study also found that two regions (the Inland Empire and San Joaquin Valley) have ratios of primary care physicians to population that are below the minimum required by California law for managed care plans (50 primary care physicians per 100,000 people). Some estimates show that California will need an additional 8,243 primary care physicians by 2030 – a 32 percent increase. In an effort to increase California's primary care physician workforce, the state legislature passed a budget in 2016 that included historic support for and expansion of primary care graduate medical education (GME)—committing to invest $100 million over three years to support primary care residency programs in medically underserved areas. Unfortunately, Governor Jerry Brown’s proposed 2017 budget takes a huge step backward, eliminating $33.4 million of that health care workforce funding and redirecting $50 million in Prop. 56 funding that was intended to go to GME programs. The California Medical Association (CMA) believes these budget cuts are irresponsible and make a bad situation worse. A robust and well-trained primary care workforce is essential to meeting the health care demands of all Californians. Inadequate funding for residency programs exacerbates access problems—every year hundreds of graduating medical students don't find a residency slot in California to continue their training, forcing talented, young doctors who want to stay and practice in California to other states and communities. CMA will be working through the budget negotiation process to restore this critical funding. We are also urging physicians, residents and medical students to ask their legislators to oppose Governor Brown’s budget proposal to eliminate physician workforce funding. For more information on the budget as it relates to health care, including GME funding talking points, see CMA's budget summary. Click here to read the UCSF study. March 2, 2017 General California State Budget, Graduate Medical Education, Physician Workforce, Primary Care, State Legislative Advocacy, Underserved Communities 0 0 Comment Read More »
California State Loan Repayment Program now acccepting applications The California State Loan Repayment Program (SLRP) application cycle for 2016 is now open. The program assists with the repayment of educational loans for health care professionals who work in underserved areas of California. The program was congressionally authorized in 1987 to increase the number of primary care physicians and other health care professionals practicing in federally designated Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA) in California. Grant recipients must commit to two-year, full-time or four-year, half-time service agreement to provide direct patient care in a primary, dental or mental health HPSA. Awardees must be currently employed or have accepted employment at a SLRP Certified Eligible Site that is willing to match the state award amount, dollar for dollar. Grant recipients may receive up to $50,000, though service years and award amounts may vary from year to year based on federal requirements and the amount of the provider’s debt. The program is federally funded through a grant from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration Bureau of Health Professions National Health Service Corps and is administered by the State of California’s Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSPHD). Interested parties can apply online through CalREACH. For more information, visit the OSHPD website. Questions about the program can be directed to SLRP@oshpd.ca.gov. August 25, 2016 General Medical School Debt, Medical School Grants, Medical School Loans, State Loan Repayment Program, Underserved Communities 0 0 Comment Read More »
UC Riverside School of Medicine receives $2.3 million grant to address region's poor chronic disease metrics The School of Medicine at the University of California, Riverside, has received a five-year, $2.3 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration Primary Care Training and Enhancement Program. The grant will allow the medical school to help transform the local health care system by embedding continuous quality improvement in inland Southern California primary care practices. “We will deploy a research curriculum to equip medical students, residents, practicing physicians and pharmacists with the population health skills needed to address inland Southern California’s poor chronic disease metrics and health care disparities,” said the grant’s principal investigator and the associate dean of clinical affairs in the School of Medicine, Michael Nduati, M.D. “We will expand the pipeline of future health care leaders through longitudinal interprofessional training. We also will ground lifelong faculty development into a new, integrated model of health care training towards improving the delivery of care to the inland Southern California community.” Inland Southern California faces severe shortages of primary care physicians and poor health outcomes, particularly from chronic conditions like diabetes and coronary heart disease. “We represent a large geographic region, which makes it more difficult to adequately staff health care providers to care for the population,” Dr. Nduti said. “Access to care is extremely limited for much of our community. But this grant will allow us to train across the spectrum from student to practitioner to hopefully affect a significant impact on the health of inland Southern California.” Click here for more information. July 14, 2016 General Primary Care, UC Riverside, Underserved Communities, Medical Students 0 0 Comment Read More »
AMA introduces tool that allows physicians to pinpoint underserved patient care areas The American Medical Association (AMA) announced today that it was introducing a mapping tool that lets physicians see the distribution of physicians and nonphysician clinicians by specialty, state, county or metropolitan area. Called the Health Workforce Mapper, AMA believes the tool will be useful to physicians so they can identify the best locations to establish or expand a medical practice based on regional needs for access to care and the existing health care workforce. The tool can identify and prioritize underserved areas; create and display ratios of physicians and nonphysician clinicians to population in any given region; map the practice locations of physicians and other clinicians in specific states or regions; select and compare across multiple categories of physician specialty types; identify shortage areas, hospital locations, population indicators and relevant health data; and view geographic features, including highways, mountain ranges and waterways. AMA members have access to the tool for free. A limited view of the tool is open to anyone. Sign up for a live webinar demonstration of the AMA Workforce Mapper at 1 p.m. Eastern time on Nov. 14. November 5, 2014 General American Medical Association, Rural Health, Underserved Communities, AMA 0 0 Comment Read More »
Governor signs bill for Steve M. Thompson loan repayment program Governor Jerry Brown has signed a California Medical Association (CMA)-sponsored bill that will refine the eligibility criteria for a successful physician retention program, the Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program. The program provides grants of up to $105,000 to physicians who agree to practice in medically-underserved areas of the state for at least three years. The program was created in 2002 under a bill sponsored by CMA. Since its inception, the program has awarded more than $17 million to over 220 individuals. Unfortunately, high demand for this program means less than one third of applicants have been awarded funding. This bill (AB 565) will modify eligibility to require applicants have three years of experience providing health care services to medically underserved populations as designed by the federal government. This change will ensure that individuals providing health care services, such as working in a clinic or other patient care settings, are prioritized over other types of services. AB 565 will also give preference to applicants who commit to serving an underserved population that is located in a federally designed shortage area, ensuring the most dire shortages are given priority. Additionally, as an acknowledgement of the severe shortage areas in the Central Valley, Inland Empire and other rural areas of California, AB 565 also gives preference to applicants who agree to practice as safety net providers in rural communities. “The CMA is proud to be a sponsor of this bill,” said Paul R. Phinney, M.D., CMA president. “Expanding access to care in rural and underserved populations of California will help ensure patients get quality, timely care that they need. With millions of new patients entering the health care system in the coming year, we must do all we can to incentivize providers to practice where they are most needed." October 1, 2013 General Advocacy, Medical School Loans, Rural Health, Underserved Communities, Steven M. Thompson Loan Program, Young Physician 0 0 Comment Read More »
Governor signs CMA-sponsored bill to expedite physician licensure for practice in underserved areas Governor Jerry Brown has signed a bill (AB 1288) sponsored by the California Medical Association (CMA) that requires priority review status be given to the license applications of physicians who can demonstrate that they intend to practice in a medically-underserved area or serve a medically-underserved population. With California facing an uneven disbursement of physicians, increasing the physician pipeline to those areas to ensure delivery of safe, quality medical care will be crucial to the health of those communities. “We need more physicians in rural and underserved areas of California,” said Paul R. Phinney, M.D., CMA president. “Assembly Bill 1288 will expedite relief to parts of the state suffering from uneven physician distribution, more quickly bringing highly-trained and educated medical professionals to areas where they can efficiently and effectively treat patients and lead integrated health care teams.” AB 1288 (V. Manuel Perez – Riverside) will not change the vigorous standards of the Medical Practice Act but will instead focus resources on the areas and populations with the greatest need. The new license processing requirements will apply to both the Medical Board of California and the Osteopathic Board of California. “CMA has a continued commitment to address the physician distribution problem, and legislation like AB 1288 is a step in the right direction,” added Dr. Phinney. “The leadership of members like Assemblymember V.M. Perez is what we need to put more physicians in the pipeline of underserved communities like Riverside and Imperial Counties, while upholding the integrity of the medical profession; providing safe, quality care to patients who need it the most.” CMA has long advocated for programs, such as the Steven M. Thompson Loan Repayment Program, that provide support physicians who practice in rural or underserved parts of the state. Thank you to all of our legislative key contacts who took the time to contact the governor. Your advocacy was key in getting AB 1288 signed into law. September 11, 2013 General Licensure, Medical Board of California, Underserved Communities, Professional Development and Licensure 0 0 Comment Read More »
