California Health Workforce Education and Training Council Meeting

PUBLIC NOTICE OF VIRTUAL ATTENDEE
CALIFORNIA HEALTH WORKFORCE EDUCATION and TRAINING COUNCIL MEETING
Deena McRae
Katherine Flores
 Kristina Lawson
Rehman Attar

Agenda#

March 4, 2026, 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

The Council may not discuss or act on any matter raised during the public comment section that is not included on this agenda, except to place the matter on a future meeting agenda. (Government Code §§ 11125, 11125.7, subd. (a).)

Agenda Wednesday, March 4, 2026
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1. Call to Order
   Facilitator:  Nader Nadershahi, Chair
   
   
2. Roll Call
   Facilitator:  Laurie Ahlf, HCAI Staff
   
   
3. Approval of October 2025 Meeting Minutes
   Vote to approve the October 2025 meeting minutes.
   Facilitator:  Nader Nadershahi, Chair
   
   
4. HCAI Director Remarks
   Presenter: Elizabeth Landsberg, Director, HCAI
   
   
5. HCAI Workforce Program Update
   Update on Chair/Vice-Chair Transition. Overview of recent activities, including award outcomes and current and forthcoming funding opportunities. BH-CONNECT program update. Program spotlights.
   Presenter: Libby Abbott, Deputy Director, HCAI
   
   
6. Maternal Health and Maternal Health Workforce Landscape
   This session will provide a landscape analysis of the maternal health workforce with a focus on workforce diversity. It will highlight the existing state of the workforce, challenges to training and education, expansion of interprofessional collaboration, inequities in maternal and infant health outcomes, and barriers to accessing care, including the impact of labor and delivery ward closures reducing access to perinatal care in rural and underserved communities.
   Presenter: Ariana Thompson-Lastad, PhD, University of California San Francisco
   
   
7. Panel on Maternal Health Workforce
   Panel discussion highlighting maternal health workforce needs and solutions to build and sustain a maternal health workforce to serve birthing people.
   Facilitator:  Hovik Khosrovian, Senior Policy Advisor, HCAI
   Panelists: Candice Charles, MPH, Research and Evaluation Manager, California Coalition for Black Birth Justice; Sarah B. Garrett, PhD, Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California San Francisco; Matthew Wanta, MSN, RN, Chair of Allied Health Department, Cerro Coso Community College; Colleen Townsend MD, Office of the CMO, Partnership Health Plan
   
   
8. Introduction to Maternal Health Workforce Planning Project
   Overview of collaborative project with the California Health Care Foundation, Mathematica, and HCAI. The project will develop assumptions for use in the development of a Maternal Health Workforce Supply and Demand model to inform a statewide strategy for maternal health workforce development.
   Presenter: Lekisha Daniel-Robinson, Senior Researcher, Mathematica
   
   
9. Oral Health Workforce Supply and Demand Model
   Preview of HCAI’s oral health workforce supply/demand model.
   Presenters: Eric Neuhauser, Research and Evaluation Branch Chief, HCAI; Chipo Maringa, Research Data Supervisor II, HCAI
   
   
10. California’s Rural Health Transformation Program
    This session will provide an overview of HCAI’s proposal and highlight key proposed activities which includes transformative care, technology and tools, and workforce development.
    Presenters: Hovik Khosrovian, Senior Policy Advisor, HCAI; Lemeneh Tefera, MD, Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Director for Clinical Innovation, HCAI
    
    
11. Meeting Reflections
    Reflections on the meeting, including key insights and how the Council can leverage these insights to strengthen and advance health workforce development across California.
    Facilitators:  Nader Nadershahi, Chair; Vernita Todd, Vice Chair
    
    
12. General Public Comment
    Facilitators:  Nader Nadershahi, Chair
    
    
13. Adjourn Meeting
    Facilitators:  Nader Nadershahi, Chair
    

The California Health Workforce Education and Training Council (Council)agenda and other notices about meetings are posted online and can be found by searching for the California Health Workforce Education and Training Council (Council)and meeting month at https://hcai.ca.gov/public-meetings.

For further information about this meeting, please contact Nancy Samra at 916-326-3705, HWETCouncil@hcai.ca.gov or send a letter to The Department of Health Care Access and Information, 2020 West El Camino Avenue, Sacramento, CA 95833.

The Council may take action under any agenda item.

Every effort will be made to address each agenda item as listed. However, the agenda order is tentative and subject to change without prior notice. Items not listed on the agenda will not be considered. The Council may take a brief break during the meeting. Members of the public are NOT required to identify themselves or provide other information to attend or participate in this meeting. If Microsoft Teams (or other platform) requires a name, you may enter “Anonymous”. You may also input fictitious information for other requested information if required to attend the meeting (e.g., anonymous@anonymous.com).

This meeting is accessible to persons with a disability. A person who needs a disability-related accommodation or modification in order to participate in the meeting may make a request by contacting HCAI at HealthWorkforce@hcai.ca.gov or (916) 326-3700 or sending a written request to that person at 2020 West El Camino Avenue, Sacramento, CA 95833. Providing your request at least five (5) business days before the meeting will help ensure availability of the requested accommodation.

If you need help understanding or translating into another language, or if you need sign language services, please contact Nancy Samra at HWETCouncil@hcai.ca.gov. Let us know at least seven days before the meeting so we can set up the services you need.

Spanish/ Español
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Korean/韓國人
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Chinese Simplified/簡體中文
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Tagalog/Tagalog
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Vietnamese/Tiếng Việt
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Chinese/繁體中文
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