About one-third of Californians live in areas where there's a shortage of primary care providers, and this gap is especially apparent in what's known as the Inland Empire -- a rural region in the southern part of the state. As we’ll learn on today’s episode, the barriers to access this creates might only get worse because population is expected to grow sharply in that area. Our guest, Dr. Timothy Collins, has the challenge and opportunity of developing solutions to these thorny problems as CEO of UCR Health, a clinical enterprise affiliated with the University of California Riverside School of Medicine. “I think tremendous opportunities exist to create a more integrated network that's focused on quality and access to be able to address all of these challenges,” he tells host Michael Carrese.  Strategies including connecting with K-12 students to get them to see themselves as future physicians and helping to clear the pathways to med school. “You can change the game if you can move backwards to create opportunities for individuals that may not see a pathway towards success.” Tune in to learn about other tactics being used -- including debt forgiveness and optimizing healthcare teams -- and find out how UCR Riverside is working to increase the level of engagement by patients in their own care.

Mentioned in this episode: https://www.ucrhealth.org/