Team CDPH Embraces New Leadership!

We welcome Dr, Erica Pan as California's new State Public Health Officer!

January, 2025, was a difficult and exhausting month for me, not because it was my last month as CDPH director and state public health officer, but because California was impacted by the castrosphe of the Los Angeles Fires that devastated communities, and reminded us that extreme weather events from climate change are worsening and that we are all vulnerable to its direct and indirect effects.

Fortunately, an exciting bright spot was the appointment of Dr. Erica Pan as the new CDPH director and state public health officer!

CalHHS Secretary Kim Johnson (left) shortly after administering the oath of office to the new Director of CDPH, Dr. Erica Pan (right).

Here is an excerpt from Dr. Pan’s introductory letter to CDPH staff:

“Before joining CDPH, I worked for the Alameda County Public Health Department in various roles, including interim health officer for about two years. Prior to that, I worked at the San Francisco Department of Public Health in various roles. I’ve been a clinical professor for pediatric infectious diseases at the University of California, San Francisco since 2015. I earned my Doctor of Medicine degree and a Master of Public Health from Tufts University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Human Biology from Stanford University.

I have worked with many of you already as the Deputy Director for the Center for Infectious Diseases and State Epidemiologist – a role I stepped into in July 2020 – which up until now had been my dream job! I also had the privilege of serving as Acting State Public Health Officer during the summer surge of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. I know how much change our department has been through over the last several years, and I am committed to a smooth transition for CDPH. I look forward to gaining additional insights into the many impactful activities happening across the department, along with building on the strategic planning and foundations that Dr. Aragon has led in recent years.”

I have followed Dr. Pan through out her career. California, Cal HHS, and CDPH is fortunate to have such a dedicated, smart, and battle-tested public health leader and public servant! No one works harder than her. She embodies these lean leadership traits:¹

1. Willingness to change

2. Leading with humility

3. Curiosity

4. Perseverance

5. Self-discipline

Additionally, she is the type of leader that gets “results in a way that inspires trust.” She is humble and trustworthy. She ..

1. has character,

2. is caring, and

3. is competent.

For these three attributes, she is consistent, reliable, and continuously improving.

I cannot emphasize more emphatically the importance of character.² She has a strong moral compass and understands the key role of public health ethics, trade-offs, and deliberations. She is committed to critical self-reflection, learning, and continuous improvement. She is committed to equity and health equity.

She is a role model that inspires all of us to become better in very way!

1. John Toussaint, Kim Barnas, and Emily Adams, Becoming the Change: Leadership Behavior Strategies for Continuous Improvement in Healthcare (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2021).

2. Karen Tumulty, “The Constitution Is Collapsing. A Lack of Character Is to Blame.,” The Washington Post, February 6, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/02/06/trump-congress-gop-founders/.