SACRAMENTO – Today the Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) awarded $16.9 million in grants to 32 registered nurse training programs to help expand and improve access to equitable health care in California. The awards, made possible through the Song-Brown Healthcare Workforce Training Act, support 565 student slots, an increase of 153 slots from the previous application cycle.
“Growing our nursing workforce is key to providing more access to care throughout California,” said HCAI Director Elizabeth Landsberg. “Nurses provide primary care services in the most underserved areas of the state and are vital to our overall healthcare infrastructure. These grants will help ensure that more of these health professionals are available to provide critical care throughout the Golden State.”
“With these grant awards we are continuing California’s commitment to expand the healthcare workforce and give Californians access to the care they need when they need it,” said California Health and Human Services Agency Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly.
BACKGROUND
The Song-Brown Healthcare Workforce Training Act, established in 1973, helps organizations create and expand primary care residency programs, as well as registered nursing, midwifery, and family nurse practitioner/physician assistant training programs. Funding priorities for Song-Brown programs include training and placing graduates in medically underserved areas and increasing health provider diversity.
The Song-Brown Act supports HCAI’s goal to increase and diversify the health workforce, including the field of nursing. Besides grants to training organizations, HCAI funds student scholarships, loan repayment, and organizational grants to mentor and support a future workforce. This funding is available in part from the $1.4 billion Workforce for a Healthy California for All initiative that aims to expand and diversify the health workforce.