Nursing Diversity Initiative

California is facing a nursing shortage crisis.  Recent data shows that the Southern/Central Valley is experiencing one of the most severe nursing shortages in the state.  Additionally, underrepresented and minority ethnic groups within the nursing work force are extremely low.  These circumstances, combined with The California Endowment’s commitment to increase funding in the Central Valley, make this region a logical choice for implementation of a pilot program, to address the dual issues of nursing diversity and the nursing shortage. For the purposes of this program, the Central Valley is limited to six central California counties: Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced and Tulare Counties for this $10 million pilot program, known as the Central Valley Nursing Work Force Diversity Initiative.

Nursing stakeholders in the area have been meeting to address the nursing crisis, providing a real opportunity to create change as part of The Endowment’s strategy to diversify the nursing work force in this region. This three-year initiative will address the shortage by targeting underrepresented groups of Californians in nursing education and career development. This strategy will not only tap into a previously underutilized pool of Californians, but will also improve the diversity of the nursing work force by focusing on increasing representation from racial and ethnic minority groups and males.

The San Joaquin Valley Health Consortium was identified as a neutral regional coordinating body with demonstrated experience in administrating similar programs in the health industry and will be responsible for coordination of this regional partnership. As a result, the San Joaquin Valley Health Consortium will serve as the lead organization in developing a regional approach to increase nursing work force diversity, as a means to address the regional nursing shortage and to better serve the multifaceted needs of the communities we serve.

The Health Consortium will be responsible for developing a regranting program to support innovations along the continuum of nursing education. In addition, outreach and education strategies will also be implemented to enable the recruitment and retention of registered nurses.  The Nursing Education Capacity Building Grants Program will help the region’s nursing programs to attract, prepare, recruit, enroll, retain, and graduate diverse student bodies.

As the lead organization for this Initiative, the Health Consortium will also manage and convene The California Endowment grantees to facilitate dialogue and ensure all the components of the program, such as scholarships, evaluation, policy and media are working together toward the common goal.

The San Joaquin Valley Health Consortium (Health Consortium), in its 30-year role as the San Joaquin Valley Area Health Education Center (AHEC), has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to improving the supply, distribution and diversity of health care professionals through community/academic partnerships.

The Health Consortium has partnered with local health, education and advocacy organizations to recruit and retain underrepresented and disadvantaged persons within the field of health. The Health Consortium was founded in 1972 in response to a community planning health care initiative to bring more physicians to the underserved Central Valley. The Consortium now administers more than 15 healthcare programs to an ethnically diverse population of 2.2 million within a seven-county area, the approximate size of West Virginia.