Sonoma County appoints former state public health director as interim health officer

A former director of the California Department of Public Health has been named Sonoma County’s interim health officer and is expected to serve while a national search for a permanent replacement is conducted.

Dr. Karen Smith, who headed the state public health agency from 2015 to 2019, also previously served as Napa County’s health officer and deputy director of that county’s Health & Human Services Agency.

“I’m looking forward to working with Sonoma County’s dedicated team of public health professionals,” Dr. Smith said in a county statement released Tuesday. “I hope to make a positive contribution toward the health and resilience of this community.”

Tina Rivera, director of the Sonoma County Department of Health Services, highlighted Smith’s extensive background in public health, including her experience as the state’s top public health official. Smith’s experience “makes her more than qualified to lead us through our most pressing health challenges,” Rivera said in the statement.

Dr. Smith will replace interim health officer Dr. Kismet Baldwin, who leaves her post on Friday to become health officer for San Mateo County. Baldwin, whose tenure as interim health officer was brief, filled in for Dr. Sundari Mase, who served as health officer during the pandemic and left April 7 for a job with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The health officer serves as the chief medical officer and top health policy official for the county, and is granted authority from the state to declare public health emergencies, issue health orders and impose penalties for noncompliance.

Dr. Smith has worked as an infectious disease specialist at Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa; deputy health officer and tuberculosis control officer for Santa Clara County; and clinical faculty at the Santa Clara County Valley Medical Center Division of Infectious Diseases and at the Santa Clara County Tuberculosis clinic.

At the dawn of the pandemic in the Bay Area, Dr. Smith was among the key advisers to Santa Clara County Public Health Officer Sara Cody, a leading figure in the region’s emergency response. Cody eventually led a half-dozen other Bay Area health officers in ordering the unprecedented “shelter-in-place“ order on March 16, according to the San Jose Mercury News. Sonoma County would follow suit days later.

After earning a master's degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Smith completed her medical training and infectious disease fellowship at Stanford University. She has also served in the Peace Corps in Morocco and Thailand.

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @pressreno.