Capitalizing on California’s Community Health Center Workforce Investment

On September 29, 2022, Governor Newsom signed the health omnibus bill, AB 204, which included a $75 million investment in the community health center (CHC) workforce. This was a significant investment given the unprecedented combination of labor market disruptions that required CHCs to focus more heavily on training and retaining their workforce. Given the unique opportunity, CPCA actively engaged the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) and the Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) on program implementation. CPCA also worked alongside its members, regional clinic associations, and partners to assist qualifying community health centers applying for and operationalizing the funds.

Clinic Workforce Stabilization & Retention Payments (CWSRP)  

On April 28, 2023, DHCS issued more than $56 million in Clinic Workforce Stabilization Retention Payments (CWSRP) to approved, qualified clinics representing more than 56,000 employees. CHCs had many questions about fund dissemination, so CPCA worked with partners to deliver a variety of resources on implementation. For example, CPCA partnered with outside legal counsel to provide an analysis on the classification of the payments given uncertainties regarding the tax treatment for the retention payments. Additionally, CPCA encouraged HCAI to promptly release guidance for clinics to report their CWSRPs on their Annual Utilization Reports for the 2023 report period. The association also updated their Frequently Asked Questions with new information on post-payment requirements. Lastly, CPCA added a new staff email template to their updated communication toolkit to update clinic staff about successful payment distribution and timelines.

NP/PA Postgraduate Training Programs 

The CHC workforce investment also included $5 million in a one-time state investment for Nurse Practitioner (NP) and Physician Assistant (PA) postgraduate training programs. This funding is intended to support programs affiliated with a community-based ambulatory patient care center and within underserved communities. Recognizing the Legislature’s intent and wide adoption of these postgraduate programs by CHCs, CPCA convened CHCs and consortia in February 2023 to create recommendations on award size, maximum number of awards per applicant, evaluation metrics, etc. CPCA also connected with partners to discuss these recommendations and shared them with HCAI for inclusion in the program application. Great news – these recommendations were adopted! CHCs will be able to take advantage of this funding soon as HCAI opens the NP/PA postgraduate application cycle on August 8, 2023.

Remaining Funds

After accounting for the $56 million and $5 million workforce investments, approximately $13.9 million of the $70 million state investment remains available for other workforce programs. Trailer bill language in AB 204 states that “unexpended funds left over from the appropriation... shall be available for expenditure or encumbrance through June 30, 2028, to fund  workforce development programs that support primary care in clinics, which may include teaching health center residency programs, the State Loan Repayment Program, the Allied Healthcare Scholarship Program, the Allied Healthcare Loan Repayment Program, nurse practitioner postgraduate workforce training slots, or physician assistant postgraduate workforce training slots.” CPCA connected with HCAI in May 2023 and will continue to engage that department, Legislature, and the Administration to ensure that these funds continue to be available for the CHC workforce.

For questions, contact Nataly Diaz, CPCA’s Director of Health Center Operations, at ndiaz@cpca.org.