Chico State to Host Healthcare Workforce Summit
Friday's summit brings high school students from 13 regional schools to campus to explore health careers amid a regional workforce shortage.
Updated on Nov. 12, 2026 in Nursing Jobs
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Chico State will host a healthcare workforce summit for high school students from Northern California on Friday, November 13, 2026. The event, in its third year, is titled "Building a Rural Health Workforce to Serve Aging and Healthcare Needs."
Why it matters
The summit aims to address the regional healthcare shortage by introducing students to potential career paths in medicine and allied health. For Chico and the surrounding region, it offers a direct pipeline of local students to the clinical roles the area needs.
The summit draws students from 13 regional high schools and pre-college programs to Bell Memorial Union Auditorium from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Total attendance and any follow-up enrollment figures were not reported.
The players
Chico State
California State University, Chico is a public university in Chico, California, hosting the summit through its School of Social Work.
Enloe Health
Enloe Health is a hospital and health system in Chico, California, that is one of the summit's collaborating partners.
The details
Students rotate through hands-on activities including nursing and vital-sign simulations, robotics and health technology, physical therapy and kinesiology demonstrations, and social work activities. The event is a collaboration between Chico State's School of Social Work, APIDA Resource Center, MESA, the North State Planning and Development Collective, Enloe Health and Healthy Rural California.
Timeline
Friday, November 13, 2026: Healthcare workforce summit runs from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Bell Memorial Union Auditorium.
Workforce Pipeline
The summit is a local application of the rural health workforce pipeline effort that Healthy Rural California is part of, as one of the event's named collaborators. It places high school students in contact with the nursing and allied health careers the region needs.
High school students in the region can attend the summit on Friday, November 13, 2026, at Bell Memorial Union Auditorium on the Chico State campus. Students interested in nursing and allied health careers can use the event to explore hands-on activities and talk with program representatives.
The takeaway
Regions with shortages of physicians and nurses often depend on local students who discover health careers early, and this summit tests that approach directly. Students who want to explore nursing or allied health can start by attending events like this one.
Further reading
Explore more on Nursing Jobs to see where healthcare careers in the region are heading.
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Do you think your area has enough doctors and nurses today?
