California Legislature—2015–16 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 introduced, 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 from the General Fund to the regents each fiscal year, commencing with the 2015-17 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 2015-17 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. State-mandated 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,
when fully implemented in 2014, will mean that millions of
previously uninsured Californians will be seeking 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 hundred fifty-five
thousand dollars ($1,855,000) is hereby appropriated from the
General Fund to the Regents of the University of California each
fiscal year, commencing with the 2015-17 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 2015-17 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, 2018,
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.