By Ashley A. Smith, EdSource, March 31, 2020
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday encouraged thousands of medical, health and nursing students across the state to join the state’s new Health Corps initiative to help the state fight the effects of the coronavirus. Newsom launched the initiative Monday to increase the number of health care professionals needed to fight the pandemic which is expected to surge in upcoming weeks.
“If you’re a nursing school student or a medical school student, we need you,” Newsom said. “If you just retired in the last few years, we need you.” Newsom also announced that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is providing stipends to Health Corps workers through a $25 million donation to cover transportation, child care support and hotel rooms.
Newsom said the state could add about 37,000 healthcare workers, including those who are retired and students. On Tuesday, Newsom said more than 25,000 health care professionals had registered for the corps. To help them join the workforce, Newsom signed an executive order allowing state licensing boards to waive some of their requirements and decide how they would issue temporary licenses.
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