This year marks the 50th anniversary of Community Health System’s partnership with UCSF Fresno. The partnership forwards Community’s goal to grow the number of physicians practicing in the Valley — increasing access to healthcare for patients in our region.
“UCSF Fresno is a branch campus of the UCSF School of Medicine, which is consistently top ranked in the nation,” said Dr. Stacy Sawtelle Vohra, assistant dean for graduate medical education at UCSF Fresno. “We love that we're able to extend that very high-quality care that UCSF can provide into the Central Valley, so patients don't have to leave home to get the care that they need.”
Why it matters: The partnership between UCSF Fresno and Community isn’t just to train physicians — it’s to attract and retain top talent to the Central Valley. UCSF Fresno plays a vital role in expanding access to healthcare in the Valley, training physicians and conducting research that addresses regional health issues.
“I feel like when people come here for training, they fall in love with the patients that we get to care for, the teams that we work in, and they see themselves really continuing to contribute to our mission,” said Dr. Sawtelle Vohra.
“Right now, about 40% of our grads stay here and 70% stay to practice in California,” she shared. “So that really makes us the biggest contributor to the physician workforce in the region.”
By the numbers: The federal government only funds a limited number of residency positions, falling short by 80% of the current UCSF Fresno training costs. In fiscal year 2024, Community invested over $37 million in medical education to help fund more than 300 resident and fellow positions.
Who it impacts: Dr. Marcel Okura has benefitted from this partnership, recently completing his residency training in internal medicine and now a fellow in the pulmonary critical care program. Dr. Okura applied to the program because he felt it was a place he could learn, collaborate and feel supported throughout his journey in becoming an intensivist and pulmonologist.
“I feel so fortunate to be a part of such a wonderful group of medical professionals as I continue my training as a physician,” Dr. Okura said.
“I can’t imagine being trained anywhere else,” he continued. “The experience you get here in the Valley is hard to come by anywhere else, but it’s more than that. It’s the patients, the people I get to work with, all of it.”
Go deeper: Watch video of this story on MedWatch Today, Community's weekly, half-hour TV show produced in partnership with KSEE24 and CBS47.
