New Partnership to Expand Access to Quality Care in North State

CHICO, CA—Thanks to innovative and regional partnerships, the Butte-Glenn Medical Society announced a $25 million request for state funds. These funds aim to launch new residency programs and recruit residents and medical students to rural counties. The Residency Task Force built an alliance throughout Northern California over the past 6 months, clearly defining the need to bring 30 to 50 medical residents in the next 5 years. With support from California Health and Wellness, this effort is now called the Northern California Medical Education Program, empowering the society to tackle access to care issues from many angles.

“Partnerships like these are key to overcoming the health care workforce shortage impacting our communities and I’m excited to see this program bring a new wave of medical professionals to our region” said David Alonso, MD, President, Butte-Glenn Medical Society. “Our commitment at the Butte-Glenn Medical Society has always been to promote access, protect public health programs, and inspire others to join the medical field. Thanks to this collaboration with California Health and Wellness, and support of state and federal legislators, we’re continuing to fulfill that commitment today and strengthen our rural communities.”

In California’s rural north, one of the biggest barriers affecting access to care is a limited health care workforce and lack of local providers. It’s one of the many reasons why programs like the Northern California Medical Education Program are so essential to restoring the region’s healthcare infrastructure. This program enables an alliance of medical societies and rural counties throughout Northern California to develop resources and business plans for adding medical residents to their clinical operations—addressing the need for Primary Care physicians’ needs as well as psychiatry, emergency medicine, pediatricians and surgery.

“Promoting greater access to quality care for all Californians is one of our top priorities,” said Dr. Ramiro Zuniga, Vice President, Medical Director for Medi-Cal at California Health and Wellness. “That’s because at California Health and Wellness we believe every person deserves a safety net for their health — regardless of age, income, employment status or current state of health. We’re thrilled to work with the Butte-Glenn Medical Society to tear down barriers unique to rural Californians and expand access to the care they need.”

Beyond highlighting the value of coming to the region as a medical resident and supporting the future residents as they come to our communities, the partnership with Butte-Glenn Medical Society and California Health and Wellness will also support this effort through the Northern California Medical Education Program by working to:

• Bring physicians to local middle and high schools to inspire future generations of physicians
• Educate youth on different medical specialties greatly needed in rural communities such as psychiatry and family medicine
• Provide scholarship opportunities for high school seniors and CSU Chico pre-med seniors
• Explore innovative solutions to the unique challenges of specialty care and mental health in the region
• Promote telehealth, tele-psychiatry and virtual care solutions and education to further expand access to care
• Partner with CSU Chico to transform healthcare workforce education in the region

“Sustaining and developing new medical education programs is a critical component in overcoming the challenges impacting healthcare access in California’s rural communities,” said Zuniga. “Given the shortage of available providers, attracting more medical residents and students into the area will allow us to serve the growing workforce demand efficiently and effectively.”

“Bringing different elements of the health care industry together to collaborate is critical in finding new ways to expand access to physical and behavioral health services,” said Assemblymember James Gallagher. “Expanding quality healthcare has been a priority of mine since joining the California State Assembly. Our communities have faced unique challenges in gaining access to proper care—accounting for the health disparities observed among many in this region. Programs like the one launched today will only benefit our work in addressing the complex issue in the long run. Through our continued collaborations we’ll be able to bring more local medical programs, increase the access and quality of health care, and begin to remove barriers that have affected residents of these communities for too long.”