Sonoma County deputy health officer takes over for departing Sundari Mase

Dr. Kismet Baldwin-Santana, who served as deputy health officer during the COVID-19 pandemic, has been named interim health officer, replacing for now the county’s outgoing public health chief, Dr. Sundari Mase.

Baldwin-Santana, a pediatrics specialist with a master’s degree in public health, has been with the county’s public health division since July 2020. In her role, Baldwin supervised special clinic services, the public health lab, disease control and prevention and public health preparedness.

She also assisted in the local effort to address COVID-19 disparities, which have had a disproportionate impact on Latino and other minority residents since the beginning of the pandemic. In an interview Thursday evening, Baldwin-Santana said she would “try my hardest” to work in the public’s interest and continue Mase’s work.

“I really do feel like Dr. Mase laid a really great groundwork in public health,” she said. “My job right now as the interim health officer is to maintain that good work and improve upon it, if I can during my time … and kind of hold down the fort while a permanent health officer is found ... hopefully it will be soon.”

Baldwin-Santana would not say whether she plans to apply for the permanent position.

“I'm looking at all of my options,” she said. “But I can say I do really enjoy the work that I have been doing as the deputy (health officer). I'll just have to decide what works best for me and the county.”

Tina Rivera, the county’s health services director, said in a statement Baldwin-Santana was a natural choice to take over as interim health officer while a national search is conducted. Rivera, who was in Sacramento Thursday, was not available for comment, according to a county spokesperson.

“Kismet has been an excellent leader during the pandemic, forging valuable relationships within the local health care community,” Rivera said in the statement. “She has intimate knowledge of the department as the deputy public health officer, and she was the natural choice to take on the interim health officer role.”

Mase, who announced her resignation on March 10, is set to step down from her post Friday. She has taken a job with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In her final public health message, which was prerecorded Wednesday and released Thursday, Mase said she’ll be working for the CDC’s Division of Global Migration and Quarantine. According to the CDC’s website, the division focuses on “activities that lessen the public health risks of rapid global travel because diseases and outbreaks can quickly cross international borders.”

“I'm going to serve as a team lead medical officer for the quarantine and travel epidemiology team,” Mase said. “And I'm going to be returning the national and international work in infectious disease, including tuberculosis.”

Mase said she was “honored” to serve as health officer during the historic pandemic. “I would like to thank all of you, the residents of Sonoma County, for helping to protect our community and save lives,” she said.

Baldwin-Santana earned her doctorate in medicine from the Ohio State University School of Medicine and a master’s degree in public health from the University of California, Berkeley.

Before coming to Sonoma County around the start of the pandemic, Baldwin-Santana worked as public health officer for San Joaquin County. She’s also worked as a neonatologist at Elliot Hospital in New Hampshire and a quarantine medical officer for CDC contractor Caduceus Healthcare.

Dr. Gary Green, a local infectious disease expert with Sutter Health, said Baldwin-Santana’s previous work as public health officer in San Joaquin County county will serve her well.

“I find her very thoughtful,” Green said. “She really listens and doesn’t shoot from the hip.”

“Dr. Mase was a good role model for her. (Mase) was very proactive and action-oriented,” he added. “I think that’s what Sonoma County needs.”

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

Baldwin-Santana takes the helm of the county’s public health division at a critical time, as the county pivots from the COVID-19 pandemic to endemic infections that continue to disrupt the community, though to a far lesser degree than in the past three years.

Mase, during her public health message Thursday, listed a number of post-pandemic priorities, including addressing the opioid/fentanyl crisis; mental health initiatives; health equity; climate change and disaster preparedness.

Baldwin-Santana on Thursday would not discuss whether she’ll be getting a bump in compensation. County human resources officials said that information was not available Thursday but would be available Friday.

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