California’s large size means that health care is organized, delivered, and financed differently throughout the state. For the fourth time since 2009, CHCF has commissioned studies of seven large and diverse regional markets that provide details of local health care systems and identify common themes and emerging issues that influence how Californians receive their health care.

In a virtual briefing on March 2, CHCF will share results from its report on the San Joaquin Valley, spanning the counties of Fresno, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, and Tulare. Prior regional reports were released in 2009, 2012, and 2016. Together with the San Joaquin Valley, the six other markets included in the 2020 project — Humboldt/Del Norte, Los Angeles, Riverside/San Bernardino, Sacramento, San Diego, and the San Francisco Bay Area — reflect a range of economic, demographic, care delivery, and financing conditions in California.

What are the key factors affecting the health care market in the San Joaquin Valley? What are the unique challenges for this area, how have community leaders addressed them to date, and what are their future plans?

In the briefing, hear from the report’s author and three community leaders with a deep understanding of the San Joaquin Valley’s health care market. They will address issues such as the area’s increasing number of Federally Qualified Health Centers, which now provide care to more than half the region’s Medi-Cal enrollees, how access to mental health and substance use disorder services is improving for Medi-Cal enrollees, and new efforts to recruit both primary care clinicians and specialists.