As Needs Grow, North Coast Healthcare Costs Are On The Rise

Tina Schaible of the North Coast Health Improvement and Information Network. [Screenshot from meeting video]

A presentation from a local healthcare network manager included information on the North Coast region’s acute shortage of nurses and its rising costs.

Tina Schaible of the North Coast Health Improvement and Information Network discussed the concerning trends during a March 11 online presentation to the Community Economic Resilience Consortium. The Network hosts a “health information exchange” platform connecting 45 “network partners” to “support care coordination and population health.”

One of the primary issues affecting local healthcare is a shortage of nurses.  Citing data from the state’s Department of Healthcare Access and Information, Schaible said as of this year, the four-county North Coast region needs 1,000-plus more nurses.

Humboldt’s share of the shortage is 290 nurses.

A future forecast sees the supply-demand delta expanding, with the shortage growing to 1,459 nurses by 2030. In Humboldt, the need will be 444 nurses. 

When it comes to behavioral health, Schaible said Humboldt is “a little bit better positioned than the rest of the state” but still has a shortage of 110 licensed providers.

Schaible also presented recent data on another troubling trend.

“And that is the cost of insurance year over year has outpaced economic indicators like wage growth or inflation,” she said.

According to a 2026 survey by the California Health Care Foundation, seven out of 10 North Coast residents say the cost of healthcare has outpaced their income.

The state average is five out of 10 and healthcare support is undercut by recent expiration of federal tax credits.

“From 2025 to 2026, without that tax credit, (Covered California) premiums have increased from $399 per month per covered person to $727 per covered person on average, a pretty significant increase in insurance costs,” said Schaible.

In the time period, Covered California sign-ups have decreased by 32 percent, she continued.

Nearly 7 in 10 Californians “feel that healthcare expenses place financial strain on their households” and “a strong majority of Californians across income groups” report skipping or delaying healthcare for themselves or a family member in the past year due to cost.

“So, healthcare is really hard for folks to access, and mostly because of that financial barrier,” Schaible said.

Noting that the Consortium’s focus is “economic impact,” Schaible added that “market consolidation through hospital mergers is driving up the cost for consumers, including small businesses” and “rural communities are more likely to experience larger than average price increases and often in outpatient settings.”  The outcome: “people pay more for insurance and healthcare services and there’s lower take-home pay for small businesses and working families.”

And with the adoption of H.R.1 – the grandiosely-titled Big Beautiful Bill – Medicaid coverage will be restricted by loss of funding, new requirements and cost sharing.

The state has taken steps to address the issues. In 2022, California launched the Office of Healthcare Accountability, with goals of “slowing spending growth, promoting high value care, and really assessing that market consolidation component.”

State funding, including voter-approved bond funding, is supporting behavioral health services, supportive housing, and mental health and substance use treatment services.

Locally, there are efforts to close the workforce gap, with College of the Redwoods expanding its nursing program and Cal Poly Humboldt opening new programs, including a master’s degree nursing program set for 2028. 

Cal Poly is also collaborating with CR on the state-funded development of a Healthcare Education Hub on 16^th Street in Arcata, with construction set for 2026 to 2027. Schaible described the new project as “a state-of-the-art innovation center” which will be “a new site for nursing education” and for training health professionals.

Noting the closures of labor and delivery programs at the Mad River Community Hospital and Redwood Memorial Hospital, Schaible said the Cal Rural Health Transformation Program is working to expand maternity services.  The program is “looking at innovative ways to expand access to maternal health care services, which could be really advantageous for us here in the North Coast because we are so rural and remote,” she continued.

During a question and answer session, Gregg Foster of the Redwood Region Economic Development Commission talked about the “increasing complexity” of healthcare services, prompting Schaible to note an abundance of “bureaucratic red tape.”

When Foster asked “how much of that red tape is leading to improvement in healthcare,” Schaible replied, “None – I think there is a study where they said 25 percent of the monies that go into healthcare are wasted, they don’t result in improvements in access or health care outcomes.”

Note: This article was updated after publication to correct the spelling of Tina Schaible’s name. We apologize for the error.