Gov. Newsom launches new initiative to expand health care workforce

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Gov. Gavin Newsom is calling for health care workers to participate in a new initiative to help meet an expected surge in COVID-19 patients.

Health care professionals with an active license, public health professionals, medical retirees, medical and nursing students, or members of medical disaster response teams in California are all encouraged to join the new California Health Corps.

Those needed include medical doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, behavioral health scientists, pharmacists, EMTs, medical and administrative assistants, as well as certified nursing assistants.

They can sign up at www.covid19.ca.gov/healthcorps.

The Governor signed an executive order that will temporarily expand the health care workforce and allow health care facilities to staff at least an additional 50,000 hospital beds.

Those who qualify will be paid and given malpractice insurance coverage.

Newsom announced the initiative as the state saw a doubling of COVID-19 patients in hospitals and the tripling of patients in intensive care units in the past four days.