Provider Recruitment Program

Provides funding to support health care organizations in their efforts to recruit and hire new health care professionals who will serve the Medi-Cal population in Merced, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties. Aims to strengthen the Alliance network’s ability to provide culturally and linguistically competent care and to reflect the diversity of Alliance members.

The Alliance service area needs workforce investments to alleviate current and future health care provider shortages and support providers in delivering high-value, person-centered care to the diverse Medi-Cal population.

• California has expanded Medi-Cal coverage for new populations, which has only increased the demand for providers who provide culturally and linguistically competent care.
• Further impacting workforce demand, many practitioners are nearing retirement while the older Medi-Cal member population is growing, many of whom have multiple chronic conditions that require complex care.

In addition to the minimum eligibility requirements for the Medi-Cal Capacity Grant Program (see Eligibility Guidelines), applicants must meet the following program-specific requirements:

• The applicant entity must be contracted with the Alliance/Medi-Cal and have a track record of contractual compliance and stability.
• An applicant entity may apply for one Provider Recruitment grant per funding cycle.
• No more than two Provider Recruitment grants may be open for recruitment at any one time (i.e., one previously awarded grant may be open for recruitment when a new application is submitted).

• Eligible provider types include Allied, Behavioral Health and Specialty Care Providers. Applications for Primary Care Providers may be considered if a strong qualifying case is made.
• Eligible provider types include physicians, non-physician medical practitioners and other appropriately licensed providers and certified substance use disorder service providers who provide Medi-Cal compensable services. The recruited provider must be licensed in the appropriate medical specialty and meet all credentialing requirements.
• The recruited provider must be a new addition to (not a transfer within) the Alliance/Medi-Cal network, with a preference for providers who are new to the provider communities of Merced, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties.

Funding awards will be focused on specific provider types in targeted geographies based on need identified by the Alliance.

• Applications are currently being accepted in all three counties for Behavioral Health, Dental, Dermatology, Ear/Nose/Throat, Occupational Therapy (OT) and Speech Therapy (ST).
  • Applications are currently being accepted from Cheeb Nroog Merced for Endocrinology, Neurology, Ophthalmology and Orthopedic Surgery.
  • Applications are currently being accepted from Cheeb Nroog Monterey for Gastroenterology, Hematology/Oncology, Nephrology, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and Urology.
  • Applications are currently being accepted from Cheeb Nroog Santa Cruz for Allergy & Immunology, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.

Applications that demonstrate a commitment to implement the National Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) Standards and to hire providers who provide culturally and linguistically competent care are strongly preferred. Additional funding will be provided to applicant entities who recruit and hire providers who meet certain criteria for oral language proficiency. See Linguistic Competence Provider Incentive.

An organization that recruits and hires a provider prior to the grant award may apply for grant funding to cover recruitment-related expenses for a recently hired provider if they were hired in the Retro Hiring Period, which is defined as one day after the previous application due date through the current application due date. (See "MCGP Deadlines" on right sidebar of page.)

• There is no guarantee that an application will be approved or that the entity will be reimbursed for recruitment-related costs during the Retro Hiring Period.
• Recruitment date is determined by the date of hire (i.e., date on signed employment contract or offer letter).

• The Provider Recruitment Program supports recruitment-related expenses such as first year salary/benefit costs, sign-on bonuses, relocation expenses, costs of maintaining professional liability insurance, fees for professional recruitment agency services, immigration legal fees, costs associated with advertising and education loan repayment. Expenses deemed operational or training costs are not eligible for reimbursement.
• The Provider Recruitment Program awards grants to subsidize 50% of recruitment-related expenses for new providers in the Alliance service area. The maximum award is $150,000. Example: Estimated total recruitment costs = $300,000; Amount of grant request $150,000.
• The grant payment will be made in two installments. Half of the grant payment will be made at the time the grantee successfully hires an eligible provider and submits recruitment-related expenses. The remaining half will be made when the provider is fully credentialed by the Alliance or the appropriate organization (e.g., Carelon Behavioral Health or county mental health/behavioral health departments for mental health providers).
• Applicant entities who are approved for a Provider Recruitment grant must recruit the provider within twelve months of signing the Grant Agreement. Providers must apply for credentialing within one month of hiring. Payment requests require documentation verifying date of hire, recruitment expenses and credentialing. Final grant awards will depend on verification of actual expenses but will not exceed the grant award.
• If the grantee is unable to hire the provider within twelve months of the signing of the Grant Agreement, the grant will be withdrawn. If the newly recruited provider leaves the practice before one full year of employment under the term of the grant, which begins when the first grant payment is made after recruitment expenses are submitted, the grantee will have to pay a pro-rated amount back to the Alliance, including pro-rated amount of Linguistic Competence Provider Incentive described below, if applicable.

The Alliance serves communities comprised of many cultures, languages and ethnic groups. It is vital that our providers understand our members' cultural, ethnic and religious beliefs, as well as their preferred language, so that they can provide culturally and linguistically competent care to our members. In an effort to support the Alliance’s work to achieve health equity and reduce health disparities related to language and cultural barriers for our members, the Provider Recruitment Program offers incentive funding for Provider Recruitment grantee organizations who hire bilingual providers.

Linguistic Competence is defined as providing readily available, culturally appropriate oral language services to Limited English Proficiency (LEP) members through such means as bilingual/bicultural staff. This provider recruitment incentive does not replace or surpass Alliance policy and state regulations related to Affordable Care Act Section 1557, in which providers are required to have qualified interpreters to meet the linguistic needs of their members. 

Eligibility

A grantee organization may be eligible to receive one-time incentive funding in addition to the Provider Recruitment grant award if the hired provider meets criteria listed below. This incentive funding is intended to supplement the Provider Recruitment grant award for provider recruitment-related costs to the grantee organization. Incentive amount for each qualifying language is also listed.

• Providers who are native or bilingual proficient (oral) in one of the Alliance threshold and concentration languages, Spanish and Hmong: $10,000.
• Providers who are native or bilingual proficient (oral) in one of the Alliance indigenous languages, Triqui, Mixteco, Zapoteco (including the different regions and variants) or other indigenous languages from Mexico and Central America spoken in the Alliance service area: $10,000.
• Providers who are native or bilingual proficient (oral) in a foreign language(s) other than those listed above will be considered for the incentive if language is used during their employment at the awarded health care organization: $10,000.
• Providers who are proficient in American Sign Language: $10,000.

Providers who are native or bilingual proficient (oral) in the more than one of the above languages are eligible for the total incentive amount. Example: Provider fluent in Spanish thiab Triqui will receive $20,000.

To earn the Linguistic Competence Provider Incentive, documentation verifying that provider has taken and passed an oral language fluency exam for the language, or has self-identified native or bilingual oral proficiency and can provide services to Medi-Cal members without the use of interpretation services with provider and employer attestation for each qualifying language, is required. Documentation is required to be submitted with recruitment-related expenses in the first payment request. The incentive amount will be paid to the grantee in full along with the first half of the Provider Recruitment grant award.

Mus xyuas How to Apply for deadlines, instructions and online application form.

Applications require submission of financial statements. Acceptable financial statement submissions include audited financial statements for the last fiscal year. If one is not available, applicant must include both an organizational profit and loss statement and balance sheet for the last 12 months, with President/CEO/Executive Director sign-off verification.