Former Orange County Public Health Officer Could Be Named Interim Public Health Officer of Pasadena

Dr. Eric G. Handler, who served as Orange County Public Health Officer for 13 years before retiring in 2019, has been recommended by the Pasadena Health Department to lead the Department during Public Health Officer Dr. Ying-Ying Goh’s one-year fellowship leave for a program at the National Academy of Medicine.

Dr. Goh began her 12-month personal leave on August 22 after she was named one of six people selected for the 2022-2023 Class of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellows program.

If authorized, Dr. Handler will be named Interim Public Health Officer of Pasadena for one year. A proposal for the City Manager to enter a contract with Dr. Handler is on the City Council’s agenda for Monday, Sept. 12.

Dr. Handler has a long and distinguished career in public service. Most recently, he served as the Public Health Officer for Orange County from 2006 to 2019. His duties included public health disaster management and a focus on preserving and protecting community health through environmental health programs, obesity prevention, disease surveillance, and health care provision for people experiencing homelessness.

“Dr. Handler’s understanding of public health, access to state and regional networks with public health colleagues, and experience serving as a local health officer demonstrate his ability to successfully perform health officer duties for the City of Pasadena,” the City Public Health Department said in a report for the City Council.

Once contracted by the City, Dr. Handler will provide services a minimum of 36 hours per week but will be on-call 24 hours a day to respond to public health emergencies, including communicable disease control cases and natural disasters.

Dr. Handler’s contract would be for a one-year period for $372,528. An optional extension period of up to one additional year at the same rate of compensation is proposed, to be exercised in the sole discretion of the City Manager. The maximum contract term is two years.

Dr. Handler responded to a Request for Proposals for Public Health Officer posted on PlanetBids on July 25.

“Based on Dr. Handler’s prior work experience, education, training, and proposed approach, his proposal was deemed highly qualified,” the Public Health Department’s report said.

Dr. Goh’s Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Health Policy fellowship is the nation’s most prestigious learning experience at the nexus of health, science and policy in Washington, D.C. Since 1973, this nonpartisan fellowship has offered exclusive, hands-on policy experience with the most influential congressional and executive offices.

A board-certified pediatrician, Dr. Goh was named Director of Pasadena Public Health Department in 2019. She has been serving as the City’s health officer since 2015; she served as medical director for programs and research for the department, securing grant funding and managing programs related to diabetes care management and childhood obesity prevention, among others.

Dr. Goh earned a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University, a medical degree from the Stanford University School of Medicine, and a master’s degree in health services from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. She completed pediatric residency programs at Boston Children’s Hospital and Boston Medical Center.