FRENCH CAMP - A new medical school is coming to San Joaquin County, marking a first for the area and a significant step toward addressing the region's longstanding shortage of health care professionals.
County leaders say the school, which will be operated by Aria University, a private nonprofit, will serve as a training ground for local students and a critical part of the county's strategy to improve healthcare access.
"I'm really excited about Stockton kids, Tracy kids, the kids in Modesto and Lodi, being able to come here for an education," said Genevieve Valentine, director of Health Care Services for San Joaquin County.
The new campus will be located in French Camp, repurposing an existing county building near San Joaquin General Hospital. The university has signed a 30-year lease with the county for $1 a year, with plans to open within two years following renovations.
"We have the facility available; they don't have to build it from the ground up," said San Joaquin County Supervisor Sonny Dhaliwal, who represents District 3. "It'll be an easy renovation, and it'll be up and running in two years."
Valentine, the first woman to hold her position, emphasized the need for local investment in the medical workforce.
"We are underserved to an extreme place," she said. "In fact, we will not have enough nurses by 2030 to just serve our current community, and we don't have enough psychiatrists or primary care doctors as is."
The medical school is also expected to support the county's upcoming "Be Well Campus," a centralized health and social services complex set to open nearby in under two years.
"We're going to need 600 new employees, so we're already establishing that pipeline," Valentine said.
City of Stockton Mayor Christina Fugazi said the school will provide much-needed access to care for residents across the region.
"Because we have a community that is in desperate need of healthcare, and they don't have it," she said. "By having this medical school here - a teaching hospital - they will be able to get the care that everybody is so desperately in need of."
County leaders hope the new school will not only retain local talent but also attract new healthcare providers to the area.
"When students are taught in our backyard, they stay in our backyard," Dhaliwal said. "This will help reduce the brain drain, or stop the brain drain."
Aria University is expected to begin operations at the new campus in 2027.
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