Minority doctors in short supply in San Joaquin Valley
last updated: April 03, 2008 04:01:33 PM

FRESNO, Calif. —
A new report suggests the San Joaquin Valley's growing Hispanic and southeast Asian populations aren't getting medical care from the doctors best equipped to understand their needs.

A California Medical Board survey shows just 8.1 percent of all doctors in the region are Hispanic, despite the fact that Hispanics represent about half of all residents in Fresno, Merced and Tulare counties.

The survey tracks ethnic information collected from doctors when they renew state medical licenses.

The nonprofit Fresno Center for New Americans says there are about 30,000 Hmong living in Fresno, but only a few practicing Hmong doctors.

Doctors of all ethnic backgrounds are in short supply: there are 173 doctors per 100,000 residents in the valley, the lowest of any region in the state.

http://www.modbee.com/state_wire/story/258594.html