UC Riverside Medical School bill approved on unanimous, bipartisan vote in Senate Education Committee

April 17, 2013

On a unanimous, bipartisan vote, the Senate Education Committee passed Senator Richard D. Roth’s (D-Riverside) Senate Bill 21 to fully fund the University of California, Riverside Medical School.

Senator Roth said, “There is a healthcare crisis in Inland Southern California both in coverage and in the number of providers. 20% of residents just east of where I live have not seen a physician in over a year and we only have 50% of the doctors we need now.”
 
The Senator added, “In 10 years, with the fast growth of our region’s population and with the current decline in the number of doctors, we’ll be down to less than 1/3 of the providers our residents need.”

Inland Southern California has one of the most severe shortages of primary care physicians in the nation. According to the California HealthCare Foundation, Riverside County is currently the only county of more than 1 million people in the State to have fewer than 100 MDs per 100,000 people.

Both Riverside and San Bernardino Counties only have 36 and 44 primary care doctors per 100,000 people, respectively. This is far below the federal recommended ratio of 60 to 80 doctors per 100,000 people. This shortage will become even greater with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act when an additional 500,000 people become eligible for health care coverage.

Senator Roth said, “The Affordable Care Act will revolutionize healthcare coverage in California. Thousands of Inland Southern California residents will be covered for the first time. The UC Riverside Medical School is absolutely critical to meeting the very basic healthcare needs of the residents of Inland Southern California. However, if the people of Inland Southern California can’t find a doctor, what good is the new coverage?”

SB 21 now goes to the Senate Appropriations Committee for consideration.