On May 9th, the Assembly Committee on Health cleared Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia’s (D-Coachella) legislation to address health disparities in rural, underserved areas.
Currently, six out of nine Californian regions face a dire primary care shortage. AB 893 would authorize The Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development to collect data from local public health agencies, physician groups, and professional and educational associations. This information will ascertain the number of graduate medical education slots necessary to meet the needs of medically underserved areas such as Imperial County.
Pioneers Memorial Healthcare District manages the hospital and is the main healthcare service provider for residents in Imperial County. A majority of that service area is comprised of Medi-Cal members. This leaves Pioneers Memorial Healthcare District in an ill position to compete for physicians. Roughly estimated, there is one physician to every 9,000 residents within the county.
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