The COVID-19 pandemic has surfaced long-standing issues in California’s health care system, including health care workforce availability, data exchange capability, and the need for better coordinated behavioral health care. The pandemic struck as CHCF consultants were working on studies of seven large and diverse regional markets in California, including San Diego. While not solely focused on the impact of COVID-19, these reports provide basic facts about each region’s health care system and identify common themes and emerging issues that influence how Californians receive their health care during this pandemic and in its aftermath.

In a virtual briefing Wednesday, April 7, CHCF will share results from its report on the health care market in San Diego County. Prior regional reports were released in 2009, 2012, and 2016. The seven markets included in the 2020 project — Humboldt/Del Norte, Los Angeles, Riverside/San Bernardino, Sacramento, San Diego, the San Francisco Bay Area, and the San Joaquin Valley — reflect a range of economic, demographic, care delivery, and financing conditions in California.

What are the key factors affecting the health care market in San Diego? What are its unique challenges, how have community leaders addressed those challenges to date, and what are their future plans?

In the briefing, hear from the report’s lead author and three community leaders with a deep understanding of the San Diego health care market. They will address county efforts to improve behavioral health care in the safety net, the growth and expansion of Federally Qualified Health Centers, and how providers, while competing for patients, also collaborate on community-wide issues, including response to the COVID-19 pandemic.