Amended in Senate May 24, 2013

Amended in Senate April 23, 2013

Amended in Senate March 18, 2013

Senate Bill No. 21

Introduced by Senator Roth

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(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Medina)

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(Coauthors: Senators Correa and Hueso)

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

SB 21, as amended, Roth. 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 delete This bill would provide that these funds 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, as specified. end delete 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 also would 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.

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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 end insert begin insert 1 end insert begin insert . end insert   

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begin insert The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following: end insert

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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, which is 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 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   

(a) 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

(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:

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

(2) The acquisition of instructional materials and equipment.

(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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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 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.