Gov. Newsom has appointed Mark Ghaly, practicing pediatrician and director of health and social impact for Los Angeles County, as secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency. According to the Governor’s announcement, Ghaly will help advance proposals to lower prescription drug costs and provide coverage to young undocumented adults, among other health care agenda items.
Ghaly, previously served as deputy director of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services overseeing community health and integrated programs from 2011 to 2018, and as medical director for the Southeast Health Center, a San Francisco Department of Public Health clinic, from 2006 to 2011. He earned a doctor of medicine degree from Harvard Medical School and a master of public health degree in health policy from the Harvard School of Public Health.