News

Over $25 Million awarded to expand health care workforce programs and address California's physician shortage

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Physicians for a Healthy California (PHC) announced more than $25 million in CalMedForce awards across the state to support new and existing residency positions to help grow the California physician workforce.

This seventh round of CalMedForce funding, generated by the voter-approved Proposition 56 tobacco tax of 2016 and administered by PHC, will support 184 residency positions in 142 graduate medical education (GME) programs at hospitals and clinics that provide care to medically underserved groups and communities.

“The continued increase in applications over the last seven years demonstrates the high demand and need for graduate medical education funding in California to close our physician shortage gap,” said PHC President and CEO Lupe Alonzo-Diaz, MPA. “CalMedForce funds provide essential support to residency programs to continue to grow the physician workforce and ensure access to care for all Californians.”

PHC, in partnership with the University of California (UC), established the CalMedForce grant program to help address California’s physician shortage. UC is the designated recipient of Proposition 56 funding and has contracted with PHC to administer CalMedForce. All accredited residency programs in the state that meet grant eligibility guidelines are eligible to apply for funding. Of this year’s CalMedForce awardees, 25 of the 142 awarded GME programs are affiliated with UC.

“The costs and demands to sustain, retain, and expand accredited graduate medical education programs have increased. Additional resources are needed to strengthen and grow the health care workforce of California, particularly for medically underserved groups and communities,” said Deena McRae, M.D., Associate Vice President for Academic Health Sciences in the UC Office of the President. “Funding of these residency programs helps the state take critical steps towards improving access to health care for all Californians across the state and achieving health equity.”

Even though the CalMedForce program endured a significant reduction in funding in the FY 2024-25 Budget Act, leading to an immediate decrease in grant support for GME programs statewide, this application cycle reinforced the high demand and need for GME funding across California. However, at least temporarily, the reduction results in fewer physicians serving Medi-Cal patients, fewer providers in health professional shortage areas, and a decrease in the number of physicians who train and remain in California. (California has the highest post-residency physician retention rate in the nation, with 78% of residents who train here staying to practice in California after residency.)

This cycle marks the largest applicant pool to date, with 173 programs requesting over $137 million in funding to support 773 resident positions.

To put the growing physician shortage into perspective, the number of physicians completing residencies in California has not kept up with the number of primary care physicians retiring. The California Future Health Workforce Commission estimates California will have a 4,100-clinician shortfall by 2030.

CalMedForce is committed to supporting as many GME programs as possible to address California's physician shortage. Given the reduced funding this cycle, CalMedForce explored various strategies to maximize impact, including reduced award amounts and employing other methodologies to balance breadth and depth. This approach allowed us to stretch resources across more programs while maintaining essential support where needed most.

To date, CalMedForce has awarded over $251.7 million for 780 grants to 180 GME programs across California to retain and expand residency slots in primary care (family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, and obstetrics and gynecology) and emergency medicine.

For more information, visit CalMedForce.org. (@PHCdocs / #CalMedForce)

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PHC report offers early insights from California’s health equity officers

Over the past decade, there has been a rapid rise in the number of California health care organizations hiring chief health equity officers (CHEOs) – individuals tasked with stewarding the critical work of advancing health equity. 

Physicians for a Healthy California (PHC) – the philanthropic arm of the California Medical Association (CMA) – recently published "The Long Road Toward Health Equity: Early Insights from California’s Chief Health Equity Officers,” a report that seeks to understand the responsibilities, priorities and experiences of California’s rising CHEOs. 

PHC’s report, published with support from the California Health Care Foundation, provides a  valuable snapshot of the characteristics of those who have assumed senior health equity roles and provides insight into the development and implementation of the infrastructure and partnerships necessary to identify, target and improve health equity.  

PHC surveyed 22 CHEOs (or individuals who hold equivalent positions) and interviewed 15 additional individuals to illuminate the challenges they face in advancing health equity within their organizations. The findings offer insight into the characteristics of CHEOs and their organizations, the context within which they are attempting to address disparities, and what they believe are the keys and obstacles to success. 

Most CHEOs understand that achieving true health equity will take years, if not decades – and it is vital that expectations be tempered by a clear recognition of the complexity and magnitude of the problem. Patience – especially at this earliest stage – is essential as CHEOs work to build the necessary health equity infrastructure within their organizations and communities and encourage the adoption of a health equity lens across all organizational activities. Ultimately, they emphasize success will be a world in which the role of the CHEO is no longer necessary.

Read the full report here.

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Calling all medical students: PHC needs you

Physicians for a Healthy California (PHC) is looking for a medical student who can contribute a unique perspective and share their experience as a member of the PHC Board of Directors.  

As a board member, you are expected to attend quarterly virtual meetings and committee meetings, as well as an in-person retreat (dates TBD). We also encourage you to join us at PHC’s 2025 Health Equity Leadership Summit, held July 10-11 in Pasadena. (Travel expenses for board events will be covered by PHC.) The one-year medical student representative term begins January 1, 2025.  

We encourage current students in California medical schools – especially those underrepresented in medicine, including those from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, medically underserved areas, or with diverse gender and language backgrounds – to apply. 

Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, October 15.  Applicants must commit to serve a one-year term beginning January 1, 2025, and be available for an interview in one of the following time slots on November 6: 

• 5:00 p.m. 
• 5:25 p.m. 
• 5:50 p.m. 

The PHC Board of Directors will meet in mid-December to vote on candidates. The selected candidate will be notified soon thereafter. If you are interested in advancing PHC’s mission by becoming a member of our Board of Directors, we welcome you to apply here.  

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New MedStudentsServe application opens Nov. 6

On November 6, 2024, Physicians for a Healthy California (PHC) will open its fourth application cycle for MedStudentsServe, which provides funding to medical student organizations to support educational, advocacy, community service and outreach programs that enhance the health and well-being of California’s communities.  

MedStudentsServe empowers California medical student organizations, clubs, and group projects that go beyond the traditional scope of medical education and community support.  

Applications will be accepted through January 10, 2025. Past projects have included free vision screenings for uninsured patients, mental health outreach to Indigenous farm workers, facilitation of Medi-Cal enrollment for undocumented patients, free ultrasound services to uninsured minorities and development of culturally sensitive educational resources for Mixtec-speaking migrant workers. Through these projects, MedStudentsServe positively impacted over 5,194 individuals, underscoring PHC’s commitment to enhancing the health and well-being of communities across the state. 

Priority is given to projects addressing gaps in funding not typically provided by medical schools or local sponsors. Learn more about MedStudentsServe here. 

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Celebrating CalHealthCares: Cohort 1 completes five years of service

In 2024, the first cohort of CalHealthCares, the physician and dentist loan repayment program, complete their five-year commitment to improve access to care and support underserved communities by providing care to Medi-Cal patients. These awardees have actively worked to ensure that all Californians have access to timely, affordable health care. 

Based on initial feedback from over half of the awardees: 

• 98% indicate they plan to continue serving Medi-Cal patients 

• 84% indicate participation in the program influenced their decision to continue practicing in California 

• 99% indicate they would recommend the program to others 

To date, CalHealthCares has provided loan repayment awards to 1,187 physicians and dentists who work to expand access to care for Medi-Cal beneficiaries. More than $114 million have been dispersed to alleviate the burden of educational debt for those awardees. 

As of September 2024, awardees, on average, have taken 4.5% more Medi-Cal patients than their proposed caseload, demonstrating an even greater commitment to expanding access to care.  

The California Department of Health Care Services is working to secure additional program funding to provide continued opportunities for eligible physicians and dentists. The latest information on the program can be found here. 

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CalMedForce’s latest application cycle highlights need for continued investment in graduate medical education

During its most recent application cycle, the CalMedForce graduate medical education (GME) grant program received applications from 173 residency programs requesting over $137 million to support 773 resident positions. This was a significant increase from last year’s application cycle, where 155 residency programs requested over $121.6 million in funding to support 689 resident positions.  

To put the growing physician shortage into perspective, the number of physicians completing residencies in California has not kept up with the number of primary care physicians retiring. According to a report from the Healthforce Center at UC San Francisco, California will face a shortage of 10,300 primary care physicians by 2030 if trends continue.  

CalMedForce is essential to bridge the gap in California’s physician shortage by supporting and expanding GME residency training programs. Residents play a critical role in expanding access to care, conducting approximately 1,800 patient visits per resident by the time of program completion. 

To date, CalMedForce has supported 1,183 residency positions at 162 unique residency programs by investing over $227 million. The program has funded 292 new residency positions and 149 expanded positions.  

Awardees have noted that CalMedForce enables their programs to:   

• Grow to full capacity   

• Increase resident recruitment from underrepresented minority groups 

• Enhance training and development for faculty and residents 

• Sustain current resident positions 

• Support residents’ well-being and mental health 

• Purchase simulation lab equipment for physician trainees  

Learn more on our website and look out for fiscal year 2024-25 award announcements, coming November 2024. 

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“Tons” of community impact from PHC staff service

In October, Physicians for a Healthy California (PHC) joined Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services to host its first quarterly volunteer activity, where a group of PHC staff sorted and boxed over 2 tons of food. The team's efficiency was so impressive that Team PHC had to take a break while they sourced more food for us to sort! A special thanks to our PHC staff that took time out of their day to show up and volunteered to make an impact in our community.  

In addition to donating time, PHC contributed leftover supplies from last year’s volunteer event to the Food Bank's Refugee Resettlement Services program. This program has supported nearly 300 refugees from countries such as Afghanistan, Ukraine, Syria and Iran over the past year. The supplies provided will be essential to helping these individuals from the moment they arrive in Sacramento. 

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Register early and save 25% on Health Equity Leadership Summit

Physicians for a Healthy California (PHC) is hosting its third Health Equity Leadership Summit on July 10-11, 2025, in Pasadena. This popular event brings together California physicians, executives, advocates and allies concerned with achieving health equity in our underserved communities.  

This event provides attendees with opportunities to find community, engage in hands-on trainings and workshops, and hold in-depth conversations about how they are addressing the issue of health equity in California through their care of underserved communities throughout the state.  

This year, PHC is offering early registrants an extra discount on top of our already discounted early-bird pricing. Use discount code “25for25” and save an extra 25%. But don’t wait! This code will be turned off soon. Register today.  

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Hands-on health equity leadership training opportunity

UC San Francisco’s Health, Equity, Action and Leadership (HEAL) Initiative is launching the California HEAL Fellowship Program in July 2025. This new program will provide early career physicians with protected and paid time to pursue their health equity passion projects, while continuing to develop their clinical skills.

If you are a physician passionate about serving resource-denied communities across California, apply before the October 15 deadline. Learn more here. 

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Residency programs can apply now for a CalMedForce GME grant

The application window for the CalMedForce graduate medical education (GME) grants is now open!

There is over $25 million available to award to medical residency programs in this cycle. This year’s application will be open until September 16, 2024. Application assistance webinars will be offered on August 1 and 26. For more information and to sign up for an informational webinar, visit calmedforce.org.

Awardees are selected based on their ability to support and expand the physician workforce to meet the demands of California’s diverse and growing patient population, with a focus on medically underserved populations. Eligible GME programs include family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics/gynecology, pediatrics and emergency medicine. Additionally, combined programs with at least one eligible discipline are welcome to apply.

Administered by Physicians for a Healthy California, CalMedForce provides annual grants to fund residency positions at GME programs throughout California. CalMedForce dedicates voter-approved, state tobacco tax revenues from Proposition 56 (2016) to train physicians and help California address its growing physician shortage.

To date, CalMedForce has allocated over $227 million for 638 awards to 167 GME programs across California to retain and expand residency slots in primary care (family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, and obstetrics and gynecology) and emergency medicine.

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