More than forty years ago, a small group of physicians employed by the County of Fresno incorporated as Central California Faculty Medical Group, Inc. (CCFMG), creating an entity that has proved instrumental in advancing health care and medical education in the San Joaquin Valley.
The incorporation in 1979 allowed CCFMG to add physicians to our group to care for the community and expand the training of medical residents at UCSF Fresno. The University of California Office of the President recognized the importance of medical education in the Central Valley and established that CCFMG physicians hold a faculty appointment with UCSF to provide valuable training for medical residents and students who rotate through UCSF Fresno.
CCFMG was essential to developing the robust medical education program in Fresno today, said Chief Executive Officer Joyce Fields-Keene, MPA, CMPE.
From starting with 38 physicians, our group has now grown to more than 230 core faculty physicians. CCFMG physicians serve eight of UCSF Fresno’s nine residency programs and serve 17 of the 18 UCSF Fresno fellowship programs. In the past four decades, our faculty physicians have trained more than 3,000 resident physicians, and up to 50% of the residents who graduate through UCSF Fresno stay to practice in the medically underserved Valley.
In 1985, the late Steven N. Parks, MD, founding father of CCFMG, successfully pushed for a trauma center in Fresno. Today, CCFMG’s faculty physicians and UCSF Fresno residents provide care at the Level 1 trauma and burn center at Community Regional Medical Center (CRMC), the only comprehensive trauma and burn center between Sacramento and Los Angeles. Our faculty physicians and residents also cover CRMC’s emergency department, which at 110,000 patient visits a year, is one of the busiest ERs in California.
Not only do our faculty physicians teach residents and medical students through UCSF Fresno, but they also provide invaluable outpatient care to Central Valley patients through the University Centers of Excellence faculty practice sites. The 17 University Centers of Excellence faculty practice sites offer advanced medical education and care in more than 50 specialties and subspecialties, allowing patients to receive expert medical services without leaving the Valley.
“CCFMG looks forward to expanding health care partnerships to meet the growing and diverse needs of the Central Valley,” Fields-Keene said. “As we look forward, we hope to continue to provide high-quality expert medical care while continuing to train the next generation of doctors.”