CHCF President and CEO Sandra R. Hernández issued the following statement about the announcement that CalHHS Secretary Mark Ghaly will depart on October 1:
Over the last five years, Dr. Mark Ghaly has been diligently building a legacy as one of the most transformational health leaders in California history. During a highly successful tenure as Governor Gavin Newsom’s secretary of health and human services, he helped the nation’s biggest and most socially diverse state navigate the unprecedented health crisis that was COVID-19 – and do it effectively and equitably.
He led efforts to modernize Medi-Cal, turning the nation’s largest Medicaid program into one of the nation’s most forward-thinking public insurance programs. He helped make our health care system dramatically more inclusive by expanding Medi-Cal eligibility to all Californians with low incomes regardless of immigration status and reducing the rate of uninsured residents to an historic low.
As a clinician and health care leader, Dr. Ghaly demonstrated a deep belief in whole person care, working tirelessly to integrate our exceedingly complex health and social service systems by interconnecting clients’ electronic data.
He has never shied away from tackling important issues like health care financing and affordability. He championed historic state investments in expanding the health workforce while also making it more representative of historically marginalized communities.
Through it all, he never stopped putting compassion and justice at the center of the state’s efforts to help millions of California residents who have not been well served by the health care system. I am immensely grateful for Dr. Ghaly’s leadership, his partnership, and his historic service to ALL Californians.
José Luis Villegas is a freelance photojournalist based in Sacramento, California, where he does editorial and commercial work. He has coauthored three books on Latino/x baseball. His work appears in the Ken Burns documentary The 10th Inning and in the ¡Pleibol! exhibition that debuted at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History and has been appearing at museums around the country. Read More
