Shasta County Is Already in a Medical Crisis which will only worsen if nothing is done

Shasta County is facing a critical shortage of primary care physicians and healthcare professionals. Currently, data shows there are only 58 primary care physicians in Shasta County, which is 64% under the California average for physician to population ratios. The deficit of Obstetrics and OBGYN physicians is even worse, at 80% below state averages as well as Pediatric physicians showing a deficit of 73% below averages.

The results of this great shortfall of physicians can be seen in the county’s age-adjusted death rate for various causes which is 53% higher than the California averages for all diseases and causes of death. Newly elected Redding City Council Member, Dr. Piyush “Paul” Dhanuka, has taken a leading role in advocating for improvements in healthcare access for residents of the County by putting forth a proposal to explore options for establishing a new medical school that would train not only doctors but other healthcare professionals such as therapists, x-ray technicians, and ultrasound technicians.

Recognizing the need for the entire County to be involved with finding solutions to the crisis, Shasta County Board of Supervisors Kevin Crye and Matt Plummer have been working behind the scenes to find solutions. The County Board of Supervisors voted (4 – 1) to hire Chriss Street in March as a consultant for 6 months to identify medical needs and provide solutions with a long-term sustainable capital plan. Supervisor Allen Long was the lone dissenting vote.

On August 19, 2025, Chriss Street presented an overview of his findings to the County Board of Supervisors. The data indicate the problem will only continue to worsen over the next few years if nothing is done as more physicians retire. In 2022 Dignity Health prepared a faulty analysis of the number of primary care physicians in their service area, leading people to believe there were 300 primary care physicians serving Shasta County, while six years prior, in 2016, a similar analysis done by SHARC (Shasta Health Assessment and Redesign Collaborative) and HANC (Health Alliance of Northern California) found that there were only 132 primary care physicians at that time. They also found that 38% of the physicians in Shasta County were over the age of 60 and 20% of those physicians were expected to retire within five years.

Mr. Street explained that the U.S. Health and Human Services agency designates areas that have a weakness in primary care physicians or other specialties as “medically underserved” and “health provider shortage areas”. If an area has only 1 physician to every 3,000 population or above, it’s on the watch list. If it’s over 3,500, it becomes medically underserved and a healthcare shortage area. Currently, Shasta County has only one primary care physician for every 3,542 residents, which puts the County above the crisis level and makes it eligible for special funding for up to $16 billion. The County is also eligible for Medi-Cal state funding of $350 million.

Recommendations by Mr. Street include:

• Attaining the designation as health professional shortage and medically underserved area.

• Designating a representative to engage with the coalition of educators and health care professionals to expand physician educational pathways in Shasta County.

• Seeking Federal special funding to increase residency training programs in Shasta County.

• Exploring the possibility of U.C. Davis establishing a satellite campus.

• Exploring the possibility of Simpson University establishing a medical school.

The coalition of educators and health care professionals is on the verge of being organized with Dr. Norm Hall, President of Simpson University as Chairman, according to Dr. Dhanuka, and will include representatives from SHARC, other doctors and organizations from surrounding Counties which are also facing a similar crisis in healthcare providers. Supervisor Crye stated that he has faith in Dr. Dhanuka’s leadership and would like HHSA Assistant Director Christy Coleman to be included in the coalition.

Simpson University has one of the highest rated nursing programs in California, according to pass rates for graduates taking the nursing exam. Dr. Hall is interested in assisting the efforts in any way possible and is beginning the process by speaking with The Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine, part of the University of Pikeville, a private nonprofit institution in the Appalachian foothills. The medical school there was created in 1997 to address their medically underserved area. The establishment of that medical school to combat the problem has been a successful effort, with 50% of the graduating medical students deciding to practice in the area. Dr. Dhanuka is an assistant professor with U.C. Davis but believes that Simpson University may be the best partner in this endeavor.

Supervisor Allen Long continued to voice concerns about the County being involved in establishing a medical school, reiterating his earlier assertions that the County cannot afford to put any money towards this effort and needs to focus their attention on public safety and firefighting.

Dr. Dhanuka urged civil discourse and expressed the fact that many people in the healthcare community support the idea of establishing a medical school but are afraid to show their support for fear of being attacked by the dissenters. Dr. Dhanuka stated that this is a time to come together to find solutions to a healthcare crisis that the County and surrounding Counties are facing.

Other ideas put forth by members of the community involve trying to attract Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants to our area, as well as using signing bonuses and student loan forgiveness programs as recruitment tools. These ideas may yield more immediate results than the long-term solution of a medical school. Christy Coleman stated there has been a long-term vacancy for the Chief of Psychiatry position at the County and she would like to have the ability to offer a signing bonus to help with filling the position.

The County’s healthcare budget is currently being supplemented by opioid settlement money which will total $38.9 million dispersed in the next 14 years in annual $2 million installments through fiscal year 2038-39. The County has five years to spend the money once it is received or seven years if it is a capital project. Dr. Dhanuka is also working on the establishment of a “detox center” to treat chemically dependent people and hopes to use some of these opioid settlement funds towards this goal.