Kern Health Systems (KHS) has announced a $1 million grant toward the establishment of a Doctor of Nursing Practice Program at California State University, Bakersfield, part of a $20 million package of support made by Kern County’s largest health plan to expand access to health care, educate more primary-care professionals and narrow health equity gaps in one of the most medically underserved regions of the state.

Interim President Vernon B. Harper Jr. welcomed the support during a Feb. 14 news conference at the KHS headquarters in central Bakersfield that brought together representatives from the county’s top primary and behavioral health care providers, educational institutions and community-based and safety-net organizations.

Dr. Harper noted that the grant will help lay the groundwork for the establishment of the doctoral degree program, which will offer three tracks of study and is scheduled to welcome its first students in the fall of 2025.

“Through your generous support, you are providing the seeds we need to establish the Doctor of Nursing Practice Program, a game-changer for our students and graduates as well as the primary-care landscape here in the Central Valley,” he said. “And you have stepped forward to help without a second to lose.”

Dr. Kristen Beall Watson, chair of the Kern Health Systems’ Board, noted, “Most of Kern County is federally designated as Health Professional Shortage and Medically Underserved Areas," she said. "Working with and living in Kern County, we know first-hand there is a lack of health-care providers. That’s why we launched the KHS Grants and Strategic Initiatives Program, a $20 million investment to Kern County in growing our own local talent, increasing access to health care and educating future health care professionals.”

The Doctor of Nursing Practice Program will replace CSUB’s current Master of Science in Nursing Family Nurse Practitioner (MSN-FNP) Program. The evolution reflects a change in the national standard that nurse practitioners must be prepared at the doctoral level by 2025, said Dr. Heidi He, graduate program director of nursing, who has been working toward the transition to a doctoral program at CSUB since 2018.

“The Kern Health Systems grant is extremely timely and greatly needed at CSUB as the Department of Nursing prepares to launch three new graduate nursing programs in fall of 2025,” Dr. He said. “Even before the first student enrolls in these new programs, the Department of Nursing must obtain new faculty and support staff, allow faculty to prepare new curriculum and course materials, and prepare applications for state and national accreditations for the new graduate nursing programs. All of this is labor-intensive and costly.”

The three new graduate nursing programs are:

• Post-Baccalaureate Doctor of Nursing Practice Nurse Practitioner Program (DNP-NP) with Family Nurse Practitioner Concentration: The purpose of the DNP-NP program is to produce doctorally prepared nurse practitioners to address the critical shortage of primary care providers in the region and meet the emerging educational and scholarly standard for nurse practitioners. The eight-semester program is designed for registered nurses who have a bachelor's or master's degree in nursing who are not nurse practitioners but aspire to become doctorally prepared nurse practitioners.
• Post-Master’s Doctor of Nursing Practice (MSN-DNP) Program: The purpose of the MSN-DNP Program is to meet the emerging educational and scholarly standards for advanced nursing practice. This four-semester program is designed for master’s prepared advanced practice registered nurses, including nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives, who are seeking the terminal degree in nursing discipline and to be prepared for autonomous clinical practice and interprofessional leadership at the highest level.
• Post-Graduate Nurse Educator Certificate (PG-NEC) Program: The purpose of the PG-NEC program is to prepare nurses with graduate degrees to become expert nurse educators to address the critical shortage of nursing faculty in the region. This two-semester program prepares expert clinicians/nurses for an academic teaching career.

Earlier this month, the Doctor of Nursing Practice Program earned the support of CSUB’s Academic Senate, a necessary step in the development of a new degree. The proposal will soon be in the hands of the California State University Chancellor’s Office. If approved, the Doctor of Nursing Practice would become the second doctoral degree program — after the Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership — offered by the university.

Emily Duran — chief executive officer of Kern Health Systems, which governs the health plan for more than 410,000 members — said that the $20 million expression of support advances the agency’s mission of dismantling barriers to health care access. Grants were awarded to more than two dozen organizations throughout Kern County, including Clinica Sierra Vista, Omni Family Health, Kern Medical, Dignity Health, Adventist Health, Good Samaritan Hospital, Cerro Coso Community College, Taft College and Bakersfield College.

“We take great responsibility in providing health-care coverage to over 45 percent of Kern County residents,” she said. “Despite our members having access to coverage, we have identified and recognize there is a provider shortage in Kern County. We need to bring essential medical care directly to where our members are and we need to create avenues for future generations to find their calling for medicine in Kern County through educational opportunities. These opportunities provide hope for these generations to find passion in being part of the solution that will meet the local health-care demands of our members and our community at large.”

CSUB’s nurse practitioner program launched in 1996 but was paused in 2010, a victim of statewide budget cuts.

“It became increasingly evident that a nurse practitioner program at CSUB is a critical resource for the community to address the primary care provider shortage, and we reopened the program in 2014,” said Dr. He, who joined CSUB with the relaunch of the program.

For the first few years, the program accepted 18 students every other year but by 2018, new students were welcomed annually to meet the overwhelming demand.

“We have graduated 102 nurse practitioners since we restarted the program, and more than 90 percent are still here in our community,” Dr. He said. “What makes our program special is it is our vision to prepare health-care providers who are from the community for the community.”