LAKEPORT— Dr. Noemi Doohan, MD, PH. D., MPH was recently appointed and then officially sworn in as Public Health Officer of Lake County in the chambers of the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.
“Thank you, I’m really honored to take this position,” Dr. Doohan said.
Doohan acceded to the helm after a nationwide recruitment process. Prior to arriving she served as Mendocino County Public Health Officer at the initial stages of the COVID-19 crisis. She has a considerable depth of experience as a family
physician. She also worked as chief medical officer in Santa Barbara County and as a medical officer for the California Department of Public Health. Also, she brings nearly two decades of clinical and healthcare leadership that includes rural and urban community roles in the Adventist and Scripps Mercy (San Diego) health systems that brought her experience leading privately and publicly funded grant work.
During her California state roles, Doohan was a founding member of Rural Association of Northern California Health Officers
(RANCHO). Doohan completed a Ph.D. in molecular biology at UCSB in 1994, Medical School at Stanford University in 2002, and Family Medicine Residency Training through UC Davis at the Contra Costa County Regional Medical Center in Martinez CA in 2006. As a devoted teacher and livelong learner, Doohan has since undertaken multiple fellowship programs, and culminated in a Master of Public Health through the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in 2019.
“My vision; that there’ll never be an absence in this role for this program,” she said. “Fron now on, you will always have a health officer to serve the county. It’s such a beautiful and great county. There is a lot of hard work to do but there is great commitment to health here. I actually started on Sept. 1, so I’ve already have been working for you.”
Supervisor Michael Green noted he just wanted to say, that in one sense it is routine, when taking an oath for office- the office holder regards the seriousness of their obligation.
“I know you take it to heart,” said Green. “And I know that 99.9 percent of us do. (It’s) all the more reason it’s beautiful to hear the words, fully committed. Although not universally held by everyone who takes an oath. And it’s more notable that you took those words freely and you’re going to serve the people here (dedicatedly) and that’s a good outcome, (so,) thank you.”
