image: Steve Koh, MD, MPH, MBA, is chief of clinical psychiatry at UC San Diego Health.
Credit: UC San Diego Health
UC San Diego Health and Imperial County Behavioral Health Services (ICBHS) will formally recognize an innovative, new psychiatry residency program at the June 10 Imperial County Board of Supervisors meeting. It is the first program of its kind in the region, following a three-year collaboration between the agencies and a $2.5 million grant awarded in 2022 by the California Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) to University of California San Diego.
Imperial County is designated by the federal government as a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) for mental health services, meaning there is a significant shortage of mental health professionals in the county compared to the needs of the population. The shortage translates to longer wait times, difficulties finding appropriate treatment and potential gaps in care for people with mental health needs.
The new residency program will help address this critical health care gap by training a total of 16 psychiatry residents — four per year — in the heart of Imperial County to strengthen mental health resources in the community. Recruitment for the inaugural 2026 class of residents is expected to begin later this year.
“This is a pivotal moment to create the first psychiatry residency program of its kind in Imperial County,” said Steve Koh, MD, MPH, MBA, professor of psychiatry at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and chief of clinical psychiatry at UC San Diego Health, who helped spearhead the program. “Putting residency programs in places where they don’t exist has been shown to grow the number of physicians who stay and practice there. This will be of great significance to Imperial Valley, which is an underserved area that greatly needs mental health physicians to better serve the population.”
UC San Diego Health and ICBHS recently received accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) to operate the psychiatry residency program. The program is designed to strengthen Imperial Valley’s local mental health workforce and expand access to psychiatric care for its residents, addressing the longstanding shortage of behavioral health professionals in the region. The accreditation affirms UC San Diego Health and ICBHS’s capacity to support graduate medical education and provide clinical training in Imperial Valley.
“This program is not only an investment in future physicians, but a direct investment in the health and well-being of our community,” said Leticia Plancarte-Garcia, director of ICBHS. “We are proud of this important collaboration with UC San Diego Health to increase access to mental health resources for our residents.”
Patty Maysent, CEO, UC San Diego Health, said that this collaboration is a tremendous achievement to assist Imperial Valley residents who are suffering with mental health issues. “We are proud to be part of a regional, innovative solution that will train behavioral health leaders to treat those with complex behavioral health needs in a geographically vast region that is currently underserved.”
Achieving ACGME certification on first attempt would not have been possible without key collaborators in the region who share a common vision for high quality health care, Koh said. Innercare, Sun Valley Behavioral Medical Center and El Centro Regional Medical Center have all provided letters of support for the psychiatry residency program. Bushra Ahmad, MD, MPA, ICBHS medical director, will take on the role of inaugural residency program director.
The new program will involve medical and academic leadership from UC San Diego Health and the Department of Psychiatry at UC San Diego School of Medicine in close collaboration with ICBHS’ medical and clinical directorship, establishing a program steeped in academic excellence in behavioral health treatment, innovation and research.
Psychiatric care at UC San Diego Health is nationally recognized for offering specialized programs, evidence-based treatments, and clinical trials to patients with mental health conditions. The residency program demonstrates the health system’s mission to deliver outstanding patient care through commitment to the community and inspired teaching, which will help address current behavioral health workforce challenges in the region.
“For more than a decade, we have cultivated a close relationship with Imperial County — from piloting the first telemedicine grant to a more recent rotation from UC San Diego Health’s emergency medicine residents at El Centro Regional Medical Center,” Koh said. “We are excited to continue working together to provide the highest quality of care that will benefit the entire region — from the new Imperial Valley Health District to local Veterans Association clinical services.”
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