California State Office of Rural Health

The Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program (STLRP) encourages recently licensed physicians and surgeons to practice in Health Professional Shortage Areas – Primary Care (HPSA-PC) and Primary Care Shortage Areas (PCSA) in California. The program repays up to $105,000 in educational loans in exchange for full-time service for a minimum of three (3) years. If you are an allopathic (MD) or osteopathic (DO) physician working in a HPSA-PC and PCSA in California, have outstanding educational debt, and meet other important application criteria related to cultural and linguistic competency, you may be eligible to apply. Please carefully review the eligibility guidelines for the program to which you are interested in applying. STLRP is highly competitive and not all who apply are awarded.

The state legislature appropriated funds for DHCS to establish the BHPP to expand the California Bridge Program initiated under the MAT Expansion Project to further develop Emergency Department-based behavioral health services in California’s acute care hospitals. The BHPP provides funding for behavioral health counselors (otherwise known as substance use navigators or “SUNs” in the CA Bridge Program) in hospital emergency departments (EDs). If you are currently receiving funding from CA Bridge, this is an opportunity to secure funding to sustain your SUN. If you do not currently have a program through CA Bridge, this funding will provide a foundation for the program by placing a counselor (SUN) in the ED to work with individuals with substance use disorder.

Health Professional Shortage Area and Medically Underserved Area/Population

Needs Assessment Methodologies in Determining Treatment Capacity for Substance Use Disorders: Final Report Presents the results from an environmental scan reviewing the literature on needs assessment methods and substance use disorder (SUD) needs assessment reports representing diverse interests, including rural and urban areas, researchers, government agencies, and private consultants. Highlights best practices for conducting SUD needs assessments, identifies gaps and opportunities for improvement in the available data, and discusses why SUD needs assessments are necessary. Sponsoring organizations: Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Office of Disability, Aging and Long-Term Care Policy, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Date: 09/2019

March 26-27, 2020. This Consortium is comprised of stakeholders from the seven Western states. They have come together to exchange ideas and experiences, to share best practices, and to develop collaborative efforts to reduce cancer.

May 12-14, 2020 in Olympic Valley, CA

March 23, 2020, 1:00 p.m. ET, Presenter: Dr. Jay Butler (Deputy Director for Infectious Diseases) Dr. Butler will share guidance with partners, public health practitioners, healthcare providers, and others working to protect the health of rural communities. He will describe what CDC knows at this point and what CDC is doing in response to this outbreak. We will also have time for questions and answers.