The Commitment Could Mean as Many as 15 New Physicians
to Serve the Most Vulnerable in the County
LOS ANGELES – About one quarter of California’s population lives in an area where there is a shortage of primary care physicians. Two-thirds of those 11.4 million Californians are people of color. Today, L.A. Care Health Plan is announcing that is has committed another $1,718,751 to its Provider Recruitment Program. The program is part of the health plan’s $255 Elevating the Safety Net, which was launched in 2018 to bring new, highly qualified primary care physicians into the Los Angeles County safety net – those clinics and practices that serve Medi-Cal beneficiaries and the uninsured.
“L.A. Care has enabled clinics that were struggling to compete with specialty practices and academic institutions to bring in new physicians to serve their patients, most of whom live in under-resourced communities,” said Martha Santana-Chin, L.A. Care CEO. “As a result of Provider Recruitment Program grants, there are now 189 new doctors actively working and providing direct patient care in the county safety net.”
Today’s announcement covers the 16th and 17th rounds of grants in the program, where funding can be used for salary subsidies, bonuses, or moving expenses used to recruit up to 15 new physicians. The total commitment for Cycle 17 of grants, which were awarded in December 2024, is $1,062,500 for up to nine new physicians. The total commitment for Cycle 16 of grants, which were awarded in July 2024, is $656,251 for up to six new physicians. These two cycles bring the total Provider Recruitment Program commitment to nearly $24.4 million since the launch of the initiative.
Valley Community Healthcare is one of eight clinics and one provider practice to receive awards in the 17th round of grants.
“Valley Community Healthcare continues to experience an increase in Pediatric member assignments,” said Dr. David Luna, chief medical officer for Valley Community Healthcare. “L.A. Care PRP Cycle 17 grant recipient, Dr. Ifeoma Ugochukwu, has made access to care better for our members. Dr. Ugochukwu comes with experience working with underserved populations, especially working with incarcerated adults. Due to increasing provider turnover, we had been experiencing long wait times for appointments. Our adult patients at North Hollywood represent our largest member population, and hiring Dr Ugochukwu means reduced wait times for adult members to see their provider.”
The Cycle 17 awardees are:
Beverly Care
Bahareh Fazilat, MD
CSC Health
Los Angeles Christian Health Centers
St. John’s Community Health
Universal Community Health Center
Valley Community Healthcare
Well Care Medical Center
Wilmington Community Clinic
Umma Health is one of the four clinics that received PRP Cycle 16 funding.
“UMMA Health is grateful to L.A. Care Health Plan for awarding us a PRP Cycle 16 grant. With this award we were able to hire and assign Dr. Siraj Mowjood to Jordan Wellness Center, our LAUSD partner site at Jordan High School in Watts serving both students and the community,” said UMMA Health Chief Strategy Officer Leigh Stenberg. “We opened Jordan Wellness Center in the summer of 2024, and the addition of Dr. Mowjood, a family medicine provider, has been very valuable to meeting the needs of the school and community.”
The cycle 16 awardees were:
AltaMed Health Services Corporation
Harbor community Health Centers
UMMA Health
Valley Community Healthcare
The Provider Recruitment Program is just one part of Elevating the Safety Net. The initiative also provides medical school loan repayments for new physicians who commit to working in the safety net for three years. Provider Loan Repayment Program grants have been awarded to 199 physicians, and 54 of them are still active. The initiative also provides eight medical school scholarships each year to scholars who have expressed an interest in practicing medicine in underserved communities. So far, 56 scholarships have been awarded, with half of the scholars attending the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and half attending the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science.
The Elevating the Safety Net initiative is part of L.A. Care’s commitment to advancing health equity for members and their communities, giving everyone the fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible.