Amended in Assembly May 24, 2013

Amended in Assembly March 21, 2013

Amended in Assembly March 13, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 27

Introduced by Assembly Member Medina

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(Principal coauthor: Senator Roth)

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(Coauthor: Assembly Member Linder)

December 3, 2012

An act relating to the University of California, making an appropriation therefor, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 27, as amended, Medina. University of California: UC Riverside Medical School: funding.

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 annually appropriate $15,000,000 from the General Fund to the Regents of the University of California for allocation to the School of Medicine at the University of California, Riverside. begin insert The bill would require the Regents of the University of California to use these moneys for the sole purpose of funding the School of Medicine at the University of California, Riverside, and would prohibit the regents from redirecting or otherwise expending these moneys for any other purpose. The bill would also prohibit the use of this funding to supplant other funding of the Regents of the University of California for the School of Medicine at the University of California, Riverside. end insert

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The bill would require the School of Medicine at the University of California, Riverside, to develop a program, consistent with its mission, in conjunction with the health facilities of its medical residency programs, to identify eligible medical residents and to assist those medical residents to apply for physician retention programs, including, but not limited to, the Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program. The bill would require, on or before April 1 of each year, the University of California to provide progress reports and specified information consistent with the published mission and vision of the University of California, Riverside, School of Medicine to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature pertaining to funding, recruitment, hiring, and outcomes for the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine.

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 This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Vote: ²⁄₃. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

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

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

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The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

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(a) California’s supply of primary care physicians is below
what is considered sufficient to meet patient needs. In the rapidly
growing and ethnically diverse area of inland southern California,
the shortage is particularly severe, with just 40 primary care
physicians per 100,000 patients, far fewer than the recommended
range of 60 to 80 primary care physicians per 100,000 patients.
Furthermore, Latinos, African Americans, and Native Americans
are vastly underrepresented in the physician workforce.

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(b) California lags substantially in the number of medical school
seats per capita, having just 17.3 seats per 100,000 persons,
compared to the United States average of 31.4 seats per 100,000
persons, according to statistics published by the Association of
American Medical Colleges.

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(c) According to the California HealthCare Foundation, 72
percent of California’s 58 counties have an undersupply of primary
care physicians, with primary care physicians making up just 34
percent of California’s physician workforce.

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(d) The University of California, Riverside, (UCR) has had a
longstanding two-year medical education program and its
independent four-year school of medicine has received preliminary
accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education,
the nationally recognized accrediting body for medical education
programs leading to M.D. degrees in the United States and
Canada. When this new four-year medical school opens in August
2013, it will become the first new public medical school in
California in more than 40 years.

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(e) This community-based medical school with a public mission
to expand and diversify the region’s physician workforce and to
improve the health of people living in inland southern California
has made a commitment to underserved patient populations.

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(f) There are two principal determinants of where a physician
practices: (1) where he or she grew up, and (2) where he or she
completes residency training following medical school graduation.

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(g) The UCR medical school has strategies to capitalize on both
of these factors. Among these strategies are all of the following:
(1) developing student pipeline programs that inspire more young
people in the region to pursue careers in medicine and other allied
health professions and to recruit them to the UCR medical school;
(2) utilizing a holistic review of medical school applicants that
takes into account diverse life experiences in addition to their
academic performance; (3) teaching a curriculum that emphasizes
key competencies for primary care medicine, including wellness
and prevention, evidence-based medicine, and chronic disease
management; (4) creating new residency training programs in
primary care and those short-supply specialties that are most
needed in inland southern California; and (5) continuing UCR’s
commitment to the recruitment, retention, and advancement of
talented students, faculty, and staff from historically excluded
populations who are currently underrepresented in medical
education and the practice of medicine.

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(h) As a further incentive for medical students to choose primary
care specialties, the UCR medical school has developed an
innovative “loan-to-scholarship” program, is actively raising
nonstate funds to expand that program, and is educating students
and graduates about existing public and private physician
recruitment and retention programs, including, but not limited to,
the Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment
Program established pursuant to Article 6 (commencing with
Section 128560) of Chapter 5 of Part 3 of Division 107 of the
Health and Safety Code.

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(i) The appropriation of state funding to the UCR medical school
will add more physicians to underserved areas in inland southern
California and help California meet the objectives of the federal
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148)
in the short-term and the long-term by expanding the physician
workforce.

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begin delete SECTION 1. end delete
begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

begin insert (a) end insert begin insert   end insert The sum of fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000)
is hereby appropriated annually from the General Fund to the
Regents of the University of California for allocation to the School
of Medicine at the University of California, Riverside. begin insert Except as
provided in subdivision (b), the Regents of the University of
California shall use the moneys appropriated by this act for the
sole purpose of funding the School of Medicine at the University
of California, Riverside, and shall not redirect or otherwise expend
these moneys for any other purpose. The funding authorized by
this section shall not be used to supplant other funding of the
Regents of the University of California for the School of Medicine
at the University of California, Riverside. end insert

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(b) Funds provided pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be available
for planning and startup costs associated with academic programs
to be offered by the School of Medicine at the University of
California, Riverside, including all of the following:

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(1) Academic planning activities, support of academic program
offerings, and faculty recruitment.

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(2) The acquisition of instructional materials and equipment.

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(3) Ongoing operating support for faculty, staff, and other
annual operating expenses for the School of Medicine at the
University of California, Riverside.

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(c) The School of Medicine at the University of California,
Riverside, shall develop a program, consistent with its mission, in
conjunction with the health facilities of its medical residency
programs, to identify eligible medical residents and to assist those
medical residents to apply for physician retention programs,
including, but not limited to, the Steven M. Thompson Physician
Corps Loan Repayment Program, established pursuant to Article
6 (commencing with Section 128560) of Chapter 5 of Part 3 of
Division 107 of the Health and Safety Code.

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(d) On or before April 1 of each year, the University of
California shall provide progress reports to the relevant policy
and fiscal committees of the Legislature pertaining to funding,
recruitment, hiring, and outcomes for the School of Medicine at
the University of California, Riverside. Specifically, the report
shall include, but not be limited to, information consistent with
the published mission and vision for the School of Medicine at the
University of California, Riverside, in all of the following areas:

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(1) The number of students who have applied, been admitted,
or been enrolled, broken out by race, ethnicity, and gender.

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(2) The number of full-time faculty, part-time faculty, and
administration, broken out by race, ethnicity, and gender.

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(3) Funding and progress of ongoing medical education pipeline
programs, including the UCR/UCLA Thomas Haider Program in
Biomedical Sciences.

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(4) Operating and capital budgets, including detail by funding
source, and an explanation of how such funding affects base
funding for other university purposes. The operating budget shall
include a breakdown of research activities, instruction costs,
administration, and executive management.

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(5) Efforts to meet the health care delivery needs of California
and the Inland Empire region of the state, including, but not limited
to, the percentage of clinical placements, graduate medical
education slots, and medical school graduates in primary care
specialties who are providing service within California’s medically
underserved areas and populations.

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(6) A description of faculty research activities, including
information regarding the diversity of doctoral candidates, and
identifying activities that focus on high priority research needs
with respect to addressing California’s medically underserved
areas and populations.

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SEC. 2.  

This act is an urgency statute necessary for the
immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within
the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into
immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:

In order to serve students without disrupting their education at
the School of Medicine at the University of California, Riverside,
and to ensure the continuation of funding to this school, it is
necessary for this act to take effect immediately.

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begin insert SEC. 3. end insert   

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This act is an urgency statute necessary for the
immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within
the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into
immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:

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In order to provide crucial funding to launch the vital health
care mission of the School of Medicine at the University of
California, Riverside, it is necessary that this act take effect
immediately.

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