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AB-174 University of California: medical education.(2015-2016)

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Amended  IN  Assembly  June 01, 2015
Amended  IN  Assembly  February 09, 2015

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2015–2016 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 174

Introduced by Assembly Member Gray
(Principal coauthor: Senator Cannella)

January 22, 2015

An act relating to the University of California, and making an appropriation therefor.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 174, as amended, Gray. University of California: medical education.
Existing provisions of the California Constitution establish the University of California as a public trust under the administration of the Regents of the University of California. The University of California system includes 10 campuses, which are located in Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz.
This bill would express findings and declarations of the Legislature relating to the role of the University of California with respect to access to health care in the San Joaquin Valley.
The bill would appropriate $1,855,000 $1,255,000 from the General Fund to the regents each fiscal year, commencing with the 2016–17 fiscal year, for allocation to the University of California to support expansion of the San Joaquin Valley Program in Medical Education, as specified.

The bill would appropriate $1,000,000 from the General Fund to the Regents of the University of California during the 2016–17 fiscal year for allocation to the University of California to support a 2-year planning effort geared toward the establishment of a separate traditional medical school at the University of California, Merced, as specified.

Vote: 2/3   Appropriation: YES   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act provides millions of previously uninsured Californians access to health services, including physician care. As a result of this additional demand for physician services, the projected statewide physician shortfall is 17,000 for 2015.
(b) The San Joaquin Valley, which runs from Stockton to Bakersfield, is rich in cultural diversity and is the nation’s leading agricultural region. However, the valley is disproportionately affected by the state’s physician shortage, which is expected to intensify in the years ahead given the high rate of population growth in the area. Access to health care is 31 percent lower in the San Joaquin Valley than in the rest of California.
(c) Several regions of the San Joaquin Valley are federally designated Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs). The calculation of MUAs involves four variables: the ratio of primary medical care physicians per 1,000 population, the infant mortality rate, the percentage of the population with incomes below the poverty level, and the percentage of the population 65 years of age or over.
(d) To help address California’s physician workforce needs, the Regents of the University of California engaged in a comprehensive strategic planning process and, in May 2008, approved moving forward with planning efforts leading to the development of a possible medical school at the campus of the University of California, Merced (UC Merced). At that time, the regents also approved moving forward with other preparations, such as planning for the initial basic sciences and clinical infrastructure. Upon completion of these and other activities, the regents envisioned that a formal proposal to establish a new medical school eventually could be developed.
(e) The medical schools of the University of California, including a possible future medical school at UC Merced, will play an important role in addressing California’s physician shortages.
(f) Medical education and a possible future UC Merced School of Medicine will further contribute to the economic growth of the San Joaquin Valley and the state, as well as expand educational opportunities for valley residents, and will further support UC Merced’s trajectory toward becoming a top-tier university.
(g) UC Merced’s San Joaquin Valley Program in Medical Education (PRIME) is providing a key interim resource for training valley health care providers. This program accomplishes all of the following:
(1) Strengthens the desire for new physicians to practice in the San Joaquin Valley, which is one of California’s most medically underserved areas.
(2) Reduces health disparities and inequalities in the San Joaquin Valley.
(3) Forms lasting relationships between the program and communities, hospitals, clinics, and physicians to enhance health care in the region.
(h) Students who take part in PRIME benefit from firsthand experience with interdisciplinary health care by providing care in medically underserved communities, working with patients and families from culturally diverse backgrounds, and developing a true understanding of the issues and conditions that impact access to and quality of health care in the region.
(i) Despite its numerous benefits for its region, PRIME lacks an ongoing source of funding for its current enrollment as well as the financial resources to expand capacity to meet the needs of the valley.
(j) Given the San Joaquin Valley’s health care needs and the critical role that a possible future medical school at UC Merced would play in addressing those needs, it is essential for the State of California to continue developing the valley’s health care resources by sustaining the current PRIME enrollment, expanding that program’s capacity, and continuing to move toward the establishment of a medical school at UC Merced.

SEC. 2.

 The sum of one million eight two hundred fifty-five thousand dollars ($1,855,000) ($1,255,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the Regents of the University of California each fiscal year, commencing with the 2016–17 fiscal year, for allocation to the University of California to support expansion of the San Joaquin Valley PRIME program to admit up to 12 students per year and operate the program with up to 48 student participants from across the four-year curriculum annually.
SEC. 3.

The sum of one million dollars ($1,000,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the Regents of the University of California during the 2016—17 fiscal year for allocation to the University of California, to support a two-year planning effort geared toward the establishment of a separate traditional medical school at the University of California, Merced. The effort shall include determination of the necessary program components such as basic and clinical science courses, curriculum, capital needs, one-time and ongoing operational funding, student support services, and other necessary components. The University of California shall submit a report to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature by March 1, 2019, summarizing its planning efforts and providing recommendations and estimates for the infrastructure, personnel, and funding, and time necessary to establish and maintain such a program.