It could get tough to find a primary care doctor to cure what ails us in the coming decade in Monterey County.
That’s the prognosis of a 2017 UC San Francisco study by the Healthforce Center that concluded that there won’t be enough primary care physicians to treat California residents by 2025, especially those in certain regions, including the Central Coast.
By 2025, there could be an overall shortage of almost 5,000 primary care doctors, and by 2030, that number is expected to double to more than 10,000.
That’s a 10-percent shortage statewide. On the Central Coast it’s 17 percent, and 18 percent in the Central Valley.
One possible way to fill the gap is to increase the number of physician assistants, commonly known as PAs.
PAs can do many things physicians do, including diagnosing and treating illnesses and prescribing medications.
But finding more PAs means creating a pipeline to train up future professionals.
To that end, the Central California Alliance for Health recently awarded CSU Monterey Bay a $750,000 workforce development grant to create the first-of-its-kind California State University Masters of Physician Assistant Program, CCAH announced April 24.
The money will go toward staffing and clinical equipment startup costs. The program is expected to welcome its first students in January 2019 who will train in local hospitals and clinics.
CSUMB started accepting applications for the 28-month program on April 27.
“Our Master of Science Physician Assistant Program provides a solution to the looming primary care provider shortage on the Central Coast,” Dr. Britt Rios-Ellis, dean of CSUMB’s College of Health Sciences and Human Services, said in a press release.
“The excitement about the MSPA is palpable both within the 23 campus CSU system as the first of its kind, as well as throughout our networks in Central California,” Rios-Ellis said.
The CCAH said the shortage of healthcare practitioners has grown since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, as more residents received insurance coverage.
The CCAH responded by launching a grant program that has awarded 388 grants totaling $65.3 million. To date, 96 new health care providers have been added within its service area serving Monterey, Santa Cruz and Merced counties.
“We are hopeful that with investments in higher education and other workforce programs, progress will be made,” said Stephanie Sonnenshine, CCAH’s CEO.
Editor's note: The original post identified CCAH CEO Stephanie Sonnenshine as the organization's executive director.