CA AB2232

Appropriates $1,225,000 annually from the General Fund to the University of California Regents, beginning with fiscal year 2015-16, to expand the San Joaquin Valley Program in Medical Education (PRIME).

Expansion will allow the PRIME program to admit up to 12 students per year and maintain up to 48 total student participants across the four-year curriculum annually.

Addresses physician shortage in the San Joaquin Valley, where access to health care is 31 percent lower than the rest of California and several regions are federally designated as Medically Underserved Areas.

Finds that PRIME provides training for valley health care providers, reduces health disparities, and strengthens relationships between medical education and underserved communities, but lacks sustainable funding for current operations and expansion.