For Immediate Release: February 15, 2022

Media Contact: Michelle.Sherwood@sen.ca.gov

SACRAMENTO, CA – Today, Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) introduced SB 1023-- the Transformation Medical Care Act which will establish the Blue Ribbon Commission on Strengthening our Health System by Transforming Medical Training and Education to Improve Patient Protection.

“As our medical schools are changing who they accept, and are focusing on patients who have traditionally been forgotten, California must do what it can to ensure physicians are providing the best possible care to patients,” said Senator Hurtado. “We are facing major healthcare provider shortfalls due to the strain the pandemic has placed on our system. Many patients in the Central Valley already faced access issues. Central Valley patients—and those across rural California—need less traditional care and greater access, so helping to prepare our medical workforce by identifying weaknesses or gaps in care will help prepare providers for the future of patient-oriented care.”  

Medical schools across the United States are entering a period of transformation. Part of that transformation is resulting in a re-examination of what training providers should be equipped with to meet the needs of 21^st century patients, and communities. Many medical schools are changing curricula, their instructional methodologies, and their student recruitment process.

SB 1023 seeks to meet those changes, by establishing the Blue Ribbon Commission on Strengthening our Health System by Transforming Medical Training and Education to Improve Patient Protection. This Commission, made of 20 members, will be required to facilitate a comprehensive review of various questions related to medical education, helping to implement a strong, robust and fair licensing and disciplinary process. The Commission will work to develop necessary reforms to ensure patient safety is the highest priority.

About Senator Melissa Hurtado

Senator Melissa Hurtado represents a new generation of Latina leaders, as the youngest woman ever elected to the California State Senate and as a product of immigrant parents. Senator Hurtado represents the 14th Senate District and focuses on rural community issues that often go unheard — access to clean air and water, food insecurity and poverty, inequities in environmental policies, agriculture and access to health care. In July 2020, she was appointed to the national Biden Latino Leadership Committee alongside former Labor Secretary and current Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis – the only two California Latinas on the Committee.

For more information, visit Senator Hurtado’s Website here or find her on Twitter at @Senator_Hurtado

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