Tuolumne County To Hire New Public Health Officer
Sonora, CA — After having interim officials in the role over the past two years, the Tuolumne County Supervisors are set to hire a new Public Health Officer.
Mariposa County’s full-time Public Health Officer Dr. Eric Sergienko has also been filling the interim role recently in Tuolumne County while the Board of Supervisors sought candidates.
Former Health Officer Dr. Robert Bernstein was pushed to resign in February of 2020. Dr. Sergienko then stepped in as Interim Health Officer for a couple of months during the start of the COVID pandemic, followed by Dr. Liza Ortiz in the interim position from April to September of 2020, and then it was Dr. Sergienko once again until the present time.
The Tuolumne Supervisors will vote on Tuesday to hire Dr. Kimberly Freeman as the new permanent replacement.
Dr. Freeman’s hiring would be effective April 19 of 2022 and pay an annual starting salary of $230,800.
Dr. Freeman has a Bachelor’s Degree from Stanford University and completed her residency in Emergency Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, in Fresno.
The meeting documents note that “Dr. Freeman is a Chief Operations Officer (COO) for an Indian Health community clinic, emergency medical services (EMS) Medical Director for the Manteca division of the Manteca District Ambulance Service, and the Medical Director for Tuolumne County EMS Agency.”
The Public Health Officer implements local health orders and ordinances, provides public health leadership in the county, responds to public health emergencies, informs the board of supervisors on community health issues and serves as a point of contact for community leaders seeking expert advice on health issues.
A vote on appointing Dr. Freeman will take place during Tuesday’s 9am meeting.
