CA AB3243

Appropriates an unspecified sum from the General Fund to the Regents of the University of California each fiscal year beginning in 2020–21 to create, construct, and establish a public Level IV neonatal intensive care unit in Riverside County administered by UC.

Establishes Article 6.3 of the Education Code, known as the Construction of a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the University of California School of Medicine in the County of Riverside Act.

Finds that the Inland Empire (population over 4.2 million) currently has only one Level II NICU at Loma Linda University Medical Center at the Murrieta campus, requiring higher-level care patients to travel to Loma Linda University Children's Hospital or Orange County facilities.

States that no University of California-operated NICU currently exists in the Inland Empire, despite the region's large population and significant geographical distance from existing UC facilities in Westwood and Irvine.

Identifies the lack of a regional NICU as detrimental to critically ill newborns with complex care needs and contributing to physician shortages in pediatric specialties throughout Riverside and San Bernardino counties.