Aragón Named CDPH Director and State Health Officer

Early this week, Governor Gavin Newsom announced the appointment of several top officials to health-related posts, including the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, and the Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC).

Notably, Tómas Aragón was named the Director and State Public Health Officer of CDPH. Aragón has served as the Health Officer of the City and County of San Francisco and the Director of the Population Health Division for the San Francisco Department of Public Health since 2011. Aragón has additionally served as volunteer faculty at the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health since 2004. Aragón is anticipated to begin in his new role in January.

Elizabeth Landsberg was appointed the Director of OSHPD. Landsberg was the Deputy Director of the Help Center for the California Department of Managed Health Care since 2016 and the Director of Policy Advocacy for the Western Center on Law and Poverty from 2006 to 2016. Landsberg additionally served in other roles, including legal roles, earlier in her career.

Mary Watanabe was named the Director of DMHC where she has served as the Acting Director since 2020 and as Acting Deputy Director since 2019. Watanabe was previously the Deputy Director for Health Policy and Stakeholder Relations for DMHC from 2015 to 2019 and the Deputy Director of the Sales Division for Covered California from 2013 to 2015.

The full appointment announcement is available here.