Merced County supervisors voted to re-hire Dr. Salvador Sandoval as County Health Officer on a permanent basis during Tuesday’s regular meeting.
Sandoval has served in the position on a contract basis since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020, when interim officer Kenneth Bird left the position after serving for less than two months. The previous officer, Dr. Gordon Keith Arakawa, resigned in February of 2020. The county had been without a permanent health officer since Arakawa left the post.
“I’m glad this decision finally came through. It’s unfortunate that it took so long,” Sandoval said, following the vote.
The vote was the subject of slight controversy. After a brief but tense exchange, the lone dissenting vote came from Supervisor Josh Pedrozo, who said he was disappointed by Sandoval’s declining to stay on in the interim when asked for service after his contract expired in June, and while county staff searched for a permanent replacement.
“I just find that incredibly disheartening,” said Pedrozo. “The call went unanswered.”
Local doctor and notable community health advocate Dr. Sima Asadi was brought on as interim instead, but only for a two-month period right before the start of the new school year.
Other supervisors as well as county health staff in attendance pointed out that Sandoval did cooperate with the recruitment search as well as provide assistance. However, only two applications for the permanent position of County Health Officer were received by staff this summer — one of which was from Sandoval. The other applicant, according to staff, was unqualified.
“It’s not an easy position to fill right now,” said Supervisor Scott Silveira.
The challenges of COVID-19 – which occurred while Sandoval was County Health Officer on a contract basis – thrust health officials into the limelight all over the country, not just in Merced. A lot of the attention had to do with the pandemic’s initial impact on local schools and subsequent Public Health safety measures.
Steve Tietjen, the superintendent of public schools in Merced County, was in attendance during the discussion at Tuesday’s board meeting.
“We’ve been through a pretty tough two years,” he told supervisors. “I hope you can put it behind you.”
Tietjen underlined an urgent need to fill the County Health Officer position due to the ongoing support the Public Health Department provides local schools and students, including immunizations on a regular basis.
Both Supervisor Silveira and Supervisor Rodrigo Espinoza also pointed out that it was the Board’s desire not to extend Salvador’s contract back in June, and instead, a decision was made to move forward with a recruitment process.
“There’s plenty of blame to go around,” Silveira said. “We did somewhat put ourselves in a position with school starting and not having someone to be there.”
The duties of a health officer include offering clinical services and medical case management, among other functions related to the well-being of residents throughout the county.
Sandoval has been a local doctor specializing in family medicine for over 47 years. The position comes with an annual salary of $275,000. Previously, when he was employed under a contract basis, Sandoval made $200,000 for the period between April 2020 and June 2022.
Dr. Sandoval’s first day as “permanent” County Health Officer will be on Sept. 6.