Illustration: Brian Stauffer For many years, volunteer work at her local church brought Maria close to other seniors in her community. When one of those acquaintances passed away several years ago, Maria unexpectedly inherited $80,000. Because Maria was facing some major expenses, such as vehicle repairs, the bequest provided much-needed financial relief. Then she learned that her friend’s gift would disqualify her from continuing participation in Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program for people with low incomes. At the time, anyone with more than $2,000 in qualified assets, including cash s ..read more

Sayida Peprah-Wilson, PsyD. Photo: Harrison Hill For centuries, devoted community members have supported expectant parents during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. In the late 1970’s, the term “doula,” a Greek word meaning “a woman who serves,” was used to describe an emerging profession following this tradition. These nonclinical health professionals provide physical and emotional support to families before, during, and after childbirth, which is part of a well-established tradition in Black and Indigenous communities. Yet only recently has “community-based” doula care, as opposed to ind ..read more

Illustration: Amanda Howell Whitehurst “You have a big voice, Dr. Grubbs,” the clinic manager said. I flinched. The last time I heard similar words, they were part of a common refrain that I had encountered often. “You’re too direct.” “Too outspoken.” “Intimidating.” Peers who looked like me encouraged me to put my head down, make myself smaller, endure — and never, ever call out racism. This, they insisted, was the pathway to success in a predominantly White, academic medicine institution like those where I spent most of my medical career. Until now. “No,” the clinic manager said, “that’s a g ..read more

At WellSpace Health Oak Park Clinic in Sacramento: rheumatologist Faye Sajjadi, MD, left, a UC Davis assistant professor with Specialty Connect; Ann Boynton, UC Davis Medical Center’s associate chief strategy officer, seated; and Janine Bera, MD, WellSpace Health’s chief medical officer. Photo: José Luis Villegas The greater Sacramento area, like so many communities across the country, has a specialist health care problem that’s not easily solved. The UC Davis Health 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment (PDF) found that, regardless of payer, wait times for appointments to see specialists are ..read more

Alex Fajardo, executive director of a San Bernardino-based center that trains CHW/P/Rs, testified to lawmakers about the importance of community health workers: “This is a movement to carry the hopes of marginalized communities.” Photo: El Sol Neighborhood Educational Center How can California integrate community health workers, promotores, and representatives — also known as CHW/P/Rs — into the health care system while embracing the social justice focus that is central to delivering their services to community members? The Assembly Health Committee and Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 1 ..read more

Kathryn E. Phillips, associate director of CHCF’s Improving Access team, testified at a February 20 hearing of the Assembly Health Committee. Photo: California State Assembly Media Services Why does California need a more diverse health care workforce, and how can such efforts improve patients’ health access, experiences, and outcomes? Health workforce experts, doctors, and community-based organizations tackled these questions at the February 20 Assembly Health Committee informational hearing chaired by Assemblywoman Mia Bonta (D-Oakland). Their main message: legislators should make policies t ..read more

Dr. James Cotter and colleagues at Partnership HealthPlan pioneered expansion of palliative care services in Northern California. Photo: Aaron Rosenblatt In 2015, executives at Partnership HealthPlan of California, a managed care plan for Medi-Cal enrollees in Northern California, launched an experiment. They’d noticed a trend: With the progression of serious illnesses, people often experienced symptom crises and their time in the hospital spiked. This made patients and their caregivers miserable. It also cost the health plan a lot of money. James Cotter, MD, MPH, Partnership HealthPlan’s asso ..read more

Angela Sojobi, PhD, DNP, CNM, is a midwife at Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in Los Angeles. Photo: John Valenzuela In recent years, many state health agencies and health care organizations across the country have increased their efforts to grow and diversify the health care workforce. Fostering a diverse workforce is important for birth equity. A growing body of research suggests that a maternity care workforce that reflects the diversity of the people it serves and encompasses a range of provider types can deliver better care and positive outcomes for babies, mothers, and birthing ..read more

Pear Suite co-founders Nick Lockett, left, and CEO Colby Takeda. Photo: Harrison Hill On paper, the Medi-Cal health plan enrollee had an established asthma plan and a health care specialty provider. But David Mamae, one of the community health worker program leads with the digital health start-up Pear Suite, knows that the words in medical charts rarely match a client’s complex reality. That’s why Pear Suite developed a care navigation platform to aid community health workers, promotores, peer specialists, community health representatives, and navigators in crafting person-centered goals and a ..read more

Kara Carter, CHCF’s senior vice president for strategy and programs, is spearheading the foundation’s AI learning journey. Photo: Christopher Che It’s hard to have a conversation in health care circles these days without the topic of artificial intelligence (AI) coming up — and for good reason. California’s imperfect health care system is loaded with problems that AI theoretically could help solve, both behind the scenes and at the point of patient care. But it’s also hard not to imagine the many ways that AI in health care could go wrong. One big fear is that AI could worsen the inequities an ..read more