Rural Doctor Deficiencies Faced with Dilemma from Proposed Healthcare Reductions; Local Innovations Endangered
In a bid to address the severe physician shortages in Northern California, Healthy Rural California has launched significant initiatives in the region. Last year, the organisation introduced a four-year residency in psychiatry, and this year, a family medicine program.
The establishment of these programs forms part of a broader plan to develop an interprofessional health care campus. However, the startup costs for this project are expected to come from California's state legislature.
Debra Lupeika, the associate dean for rural and community-based education at the University of California-Davis School of Medicine, emphasised the dire need for more doctors in the region. Civic and medical industry leaders in Chico and Redding concur, stressing the importance of a robust health care system that serves everyone, irrespective of political affiliations.
The financial constraints in rural healthcare are expected to worsen the shortage, particularly affecting smaller, weaker hospitals. For instance, Glenn Medical Center in Willows, about 30 miles from Chico, announced it would shut down its ER and hospital services in October.
The closure of such facilities is a significant concern, as the local hospital in Paradise, 15 miles east of Chico, was shuttered after the 2018 Camp Fire.
To mitigate these financial challenges, a $50 billion rural health care fund has been allocated in the budget law. This fund is intended to offset a little more than a third of the money that rural areas are expected to lose because of the Medicaid cuts, according to research from KFF.
However, the specific allocation of this fund per state is yet to be determined. It's not clear how, or to which states, that money will be distributed.
Amidst these challenges, there are promising signs of resilience. Olivia Owlett, one of four residents in the inaugural class of a three-year family medicine residency program run by Healthy Rural California, chose to do her primary care residency in Chico, California, due to the health care challenges in the region.
Moreover, Healthy Rural California is also involved in initiatives to expose high school students to potential careers in health care and is behind early plans for a $200 million 'interprofessional' health care campus.
In a collaborative effort, medical and political leaders in Chico and Redding are exploring the possibility of building a medical school, possibly under the auspices of UC Davis.
This article was published on Thursday, September 18, 2025, in KFF Health News. For further information or queries, Bernard J. Wolfson, the author of this article, can be contacted at [email protected] or @bjwolfson.
The region where Chico is located, California's far northern region, is a collection of sparsely populated counties stretching from just north of Sacramento all the way up to Oregon and from the Pacific coast to the Nevada border. The challenges faced in this region underscore the need for continued efforts and collaboration to address rural healthcare shortages.
