On March 28, the California Department of Health Care Services began issuing $1 billion in one-time retention payments to physicians and other healthcare workers who worked at certain hospitals and skilled nursing facilities during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
More than 832,000 individuals who worked at a qualifying facility will receive payment, according to a March 28 news release from the department.
Eligible full-time, non-physician workers can receive a state payment up to $1,500; part-time, non-physician workers can receive up to $1,250; and eligible physicians will receive $1,000.
"These payments are for healthcare workers who have been at the frontlines delivering care to the most acute patients during the COVID-19 pandemic," DHCS Director Michelle Baass said in the release. "We owe them a debt of gratitude for caring for the sickest and most vulnerable among us during the worst public health emergency of our lifetime."