Merced physician who played key role in COVID fight appointed county interim health officer
A longtime community physician lauded for her service to public health is stepping up as the new Merced County Health Officer until a permanent recruit is hired.
The Merced County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a 60-day contract for Dr. Sima Asadi to serve as the interim health officer.
Dr. Salvador Sandoval previously held the health officer contract, serving in the role from April 2020 through the end of June. Sandoval guided the Merced County Department of Public Health and the community at large through the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic’s early days and multiple case waves.
Merced County officials have not commented on why Sandoval left the post.
The $45,000 contract with Asadi approved by the Board of Supervisors will allow County Public Health to continue essential services until a new health officer is found. The contract runs July 21 through Sept. 19.
Asadi told the Sun-Star that although she is taking on the County Health Officer role, her position in that role is temporary.
“I am a community pediatrician. I have a full time load in my practice,” she said. “I love what I do in this community. I have no intention of resuming this role beyond the 60-day period.”
The County Health Officer is responsible for clinical duties, medical case management and serves as a medical consultant for staff. The health officer is also the official county registrar for births and deaths.
Without a medical doctor serving as health officer, the county cannot perform some of those essential duties, which also include critical public health services like tuberculosis treatment and testing, routine childhood vaccinations and COVID-19 vaccinations.
Asadi said she agreed to serve as health officer so the county could resume those essential services until a permanent health officer is hired. Asadi said she has no knowledge of who her permanent successor will be and that she will not be a part of the recruitment or hiring process.
A county spokesperson told the Sun-Star that the County Health Officer position will be transitioned from a contracted job to a staff position.
Recognized for COVID-19 response
Asadi has over 25 years of medical experience and is well known in Merced County as a local leader in community health.
She said she approached the county and offered to fill in as County Health Officer temporarily after Sandoval’s contract ended. About a month went by without a replacement being found before Asadi assumed the role.
Asadi developed a close relationship with County Public Health during the pandemic, joining in on county phone calls since the first days of COVID-19’s spread and staying involved so that at any given time she would understand where the greatest need was — whether it was testing or vaccinations.
Assemblyman Adam Gray, D-Merced, personally recognized Asadi in March as the “California Woman of the Year” for Assembly District 21 during a ceremony outside her practice in Merced. She was saluted for going above and beyond in her efforts to vaccinate residents against COVID-19.
Asadi operates an independent pediatric practice in Merced — the first in the county to begin testing for COVID-19 and administering vaccinations.
With the help of volunteers, she organized clinics in a focused effort to vaccinate farm workers, educators and the elderly throughout Merced County, including rural places like Planada and Le Grand.
Asadi received her medical degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and completed her residency at University California San Francisco Medical Center, as well as at Valley Children’s Hospital before starting her practice in Merced, according to the county.
Asadi said she couldn’t have stepped into the interim health officer role without the support provided by County Public Health staff.
“I want to publicly thank all of the employees at the Merced County Public Health Department for their unrecognized and underappreciated hard work and dedication, not only throughout the pandemic and beyond,” Asadi said. “We don’t thank them enough.”
