California Grapples with Primary Care Provider Shortage

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 28 April 2023

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

About a third of Californians live in areas where there is a shortage of primary care providers, according to the California Healthcare Foundation. The shortage is particularly acute in rural areas and in the rapidly growing Inland Empire, which has only about 40 primary care physicians per 100,000 people. For patients, a short supply of doctors can mean months-long waits for appointments and more trips to urgent care for chronic conditions. And for in-demand providers, burnout looms. We’ll learn about plans to address the shortage and hear about your experiences finding a primary care professional. Guests: Arturo Bustamante, professor of health policy and management, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health Timothy Collins, incoming CEO, UC Riverside Health Sunita Mutha, general internist providing primary care; professor of medicine and director, Healthforce Center at UCSF Nate McLaughlin, family medicine doctor; program director, Family Medicine Program, Riverside University Health Services/UC Riverside Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for Forum comes from Rancho La Puerta, a wellness resort in Baja, California, just an hour from San Diego.
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0:44.6	From KQBD in San Francisco, I'm Mina Kim, coming to you from Forms partner station KVCR in the England Empire.
1:08.4	On today's show, if you've had to wait several weeks or even months
1:11.9	for an appointment at your doctor's office or struggle to find a primary care doctor at all,
1:16.4	you're likely feeling the effects of California's doctor shortage. Roughly a third of the state's
1:21.6	population live in areas where there aren't enough primary care docs, according to the California
1:26.1	Health Care Foundation.
1:27.6	And it's particularly bad in rural areas
1:30.1	and in the rapidly growing inland empire.
1:33.0	This hour, we look at what that short supply means
1:35.2	for patients, our broader healthcare system,
	...

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