GME Committee
Healthy Rural California’s Graduate Medical Education Committee was formed in 2020 and 2021 as a community-focused consortium model medical residency program. Led by Dr. Ted Zwerdling, Designated Institution Official (DIO), the GMEC sets and monitors policies and procedures for all residents in our programs.
In addition to the DIO, the GMEC includes:
Michelle Hamline, MD, Associate Director of Quality Improvement, Department of Pediatrics, UC Davis School of Medicine
Sean Liston, MD, Patient Safety and Improvement Chair, Enloe Medical Staff
Debbie Lupeika, MD, Program Director, Family Medicine Residency, Shasta Community Health Clinic
Andy Miller, MD, Community Health Physician, Enloe Medical Center
Malcolm MacDonald, MD, Family Medicine General Practice
Chester Austin, MD, CMO, Northern Valley Indian Health
Scott Kennelly, LCSW, Director, Behavioral Health Butte County
Kristy Bird MaKieve, MBA, GME Administrator, Healthy Rural California
Healthy Rural California’s first residency program is a 4 x4 Psychiatry Residency program with an innovative curriculum focused on Trauma-Informed Care and Health Equity. Recruitment of residents will begin in Summer 2023 with the goal of participating in Match Day 2024 and the first cohort of Psychiatry Residents to arrive in July 2024.
We seek funding for our launch. An initial loan of $200,000 from North Valley Community Foundation is designed as a “match.” We seek $200,000 from participating clinical facilities and community partners. We also seek sponsorship for resident activities such as CME opportunities, an annual Gala for residents and their families, and other activities and stipends. We also seek innovative housing solutions to accommodate the residents as they will spend 4 years in our community. Additional funding will support feasibility studies and business plans for independent hospitals to build their full capacity for all specialty residency programs.
Once the Psychiatry Residency is accredited by ACGME, an OSPHD WET PECE grant award of $1.8 million is available for reimbursing the launch and first year of the program. This will be sufficient to reach the time when GME reimbursements will support the program.
If you are interested in being part of this effort, please contact DIO Dr. Theodore Zwerdling or Gretchen Bender, Director of Finance and Administration, Healthy Rural California at gbender@healthyruralca.org.
Click here for the GME Committee Policy Binder.
