Assemblymember Dr. Jasmeet Bains introduced the Grow Our Own Doctors Act last week. If passed, the University of California (UC) system would have a year to build a medical school in Kern County, and if they don’t, California State University, Bakersfield, or the Kern Community College District would have the authority to do so.
The remote Kern County desert community of Mojave 61 miles east from Bakersfield has one grocery store, limited transportation service, and hasn’t had a hospital in more than 50 years, according to Ted Hodgkins, president of the Mojave Chamber of Commerce.