Joy JuedesChapman University celebrated a $5 million grant that will support future Orange County health care providers.
The gift, a Health Care Provider Workforce Development Initiative grant from health insurer CalOptima, will fund scholarships for academically qualified Orange County students from under-resourced backgrounds to attend Chapman’s physician assistant (PA) program.
“We are very grateful for this support, and it really falls in line with what the goals have been for this campus and for our effort in health sciences, which is the support of highly qualified low-income students,” Chapman President Daniele C. Struppa said at a check presentation gathering at Rinker Health Science Campus in Irvine, which included many PA students. “This is a joint investment of CalOptima and Chapman University to make sure that we strengthen the presence here of people who can really benefit the community.”
The funding will create a pipeline of local PAs to work in communities with less access to primary care and create new clinical training sites to ensure longevity in the recruiting and training of future health care professionals in Orange County.
Second District Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento said during the event that it’s important to have culturally competent health care workers in the area.
“We know that your mission here at Chapman is to make sure that the workforce, whether it be in health, whether it be in other disciplines, is going to be able to address those changing cultural needs,” he said. “We really appreciate the partnership and we’re grateful that we have world-class campuses that can deliver students who will hopefully remain in the communities that they not only were raised in, but also studied in.”
Chapman was among the recipients of the first round of the grants. CalOptima Chief Operating Officer Yunkyung Kim said the insurance plan is interested in workforce development because members deserve providers “who look like them, who speak their language, who come from their communities.”
Third District Supervisor Don Wagner said Chapman “stepped into the breach” to meet the need for health care providers.
“That’s what this workforce development grant recognizes,” he said. “That’s what the partnership between the county through CalOptima and Chapman represents, and that’s what you folks are on the cutting edge of as we move forward, as you move forward in your careers, and in your service to the community.”
Other grant recipients through CalOptima’s $50 million initiative include UC Irvine’s Sue and Bill Gross School of Nursing, CSU Fullerton’s Auxiliary Services Corporation, Coast Community College District, Santiago Canyon College, Orange County United Way and Concordia University. Chapman’s program is the only one focusing exclusively on recruiting and training primary care practitioners.
The demand for physician assistants in Orange County has significantly increased over the last decade and is projected to continue growing on a national scale. Janeen Hill, dean of Chapman’s Crean College of Health and Behavioral Sciences, which houses the university’s PA program, said the county will need about 40% more physician assistants over the next decade to meet the health care needs of the community.
“The CalOptima grant represents a pivotal opportunity for Chapman University to not only broaden the diversity of our health care workforce but also to address the pressing need for health care professionals in underserved areas. We are not only dedicating resources to the future of health care but also cultivating a dedication to community service and ensuring fair access to care,” Hill said.
CalOptima is a public health plan that provides health care coverage to more than 800,000 low-income residents of Orange County.
The CalOptima Health Workforce Development Fund is a grant program that supports the training and education of health care professionals who serve CalOptima members and other low-income populations in Orange County. The fund aims to increase the supply, diversity and quality of the health workforce in the region.
