Recognizing, Growing, and Strengthening
the Health Center Workforce
Healthcare employers are currently operating in the most challenging labor market in decades. CPCA is helping community health centers (CHCs) navigate an unprecedented combination of labor market disruptions by recognizing, growing, and strengthening the CHC workforce. The Association worked alongside its members, regional clinic associations, and state departments to implement two major state clinic workforce investments – Clinic Workforce Stabilization and Retention Payments (CWSRP), and funds for Nurse Practitioner (NP) and Physician Assistant (PA) postgraduate training. Additionally, CPCA hosted the 2023 Workforce Symposium in January 2023 to provide new and innovative solutions for complex, multilayered healthcare workforce challenges.
CWSRP Implementation
Governor Newsom signed AB 204 on September 29, 2022, which provided $75 million for clinic retention payments and NP and PA postgraduate training. CPCA worked with the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) and the Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) respectively to offer strategic guidance on the implementation of these funds.
The Clinic Workforce Stabilization and Retention Payments provide a one-time, up to $1,000 retention payment to eligible community health center staff, regardless of their full-time or part-time status. Despite being a new program, it was well received among the network of CHCs. The CWSRP registration and application cycle closed with a total of 259 approved clinics across California. This outcome is the result of strong collaboration. CPCA worked with DHCS and legal counsel to develop a marketing campaign, webinar series, Frequently Asked Questions document, and communication toolkit for CHCs to utilize. CHCs leveraged these resources and applied for the funds to recognize their staff for their hard work, service, and commitment. The retention payments will be disbursed to CHCs in April 2023.
NP and PA Postgraduate Training
The NP and PA postgraduate training funds expand and sustain training of advance practice providers in CHC settings. A total of $5 million is available this year to provide postgraduate fellowships for clinical training in primary care for these two professions. As a major success to CHCs, applicants must be affiliated with community-based ambulatory patient care centers with underserved communities to receive funding. In preparation for applications this summer, CPCA met with its members to collect feedback on award size, limits, and application criteria. This information was shared with HCAI for the development of the application, which will be released this summer via the Song-Brown Healthcare Workforce Training Program.
The 2023 Workforce Symposium Provides Innovative Health Center Workforce Solutions
CPCA’s Workforce Symposium was held on January 24-26, 2023 in our online Training Portal. Supported by Nonstop Health ™, this event welcomed nearly 100 health center leaders and staff from across the state. CPCA collaborated with several other organizations, including Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County, LifeLong Medical Care, and others to create and deliver content for the event. Attendees had the opportunity to participate in peer-led discussion forums, explore a resource library, and attend expert-led webinars throughout the week.
The most popular sessions from this symposium – both with satisfaction scores of five out of five – were Labor Law Updates with Treaver Hodson of Palmer Kazanjian Wohl Hodson LLP, and Meeting Our Mental Health Emergency with Elizabeth Morrison of EM Consulting and James Regan of HCAI. Labor Law Updates focused on providing attendees with a greater understanding of California’s newly enacted employment and labor laws that affect community health centers, while Meeting Our Mental Health Emergency focused on identifying concrete steps to elevate select staff members to engage as mental health providers.
The 2023 Workforce Symposium provided an excellent opportunity for health center staff to enhance their knowledge and connect with their peers, while gaining valuable insights from experts in the community health center workforce field. We look forward to offering this symposium again in 2024!
If you have any questions about either the CWSRP or the NP/PA postgraduate training, contact CPCA Director of Health Center Operations, Nataly Diaz, at ndiaz@cpca.org. For questions related to the Workforce Symposium, contact training@cpca.org.