Dr. Ying-Ying Goh, who served as Pasadena’s director of public health and chief health officer, is stepping down to take a post with the federal government.
Goh led the city through the COVID-19 pandemic, also serving as an incident commander for public health emergency responses, according to the city.
The Pasadena Public Health Department, active since 1892, is one of only three independent local health jurisdictions run by cities in California, according to the city.
Goh will assume the position of clinical lead on a project for the United States Department of Health and Human Services, under Secretary Xavier Becerra, according to Pasadena’s City Manager Miguel Márquez.
“I wish her well as she continues her public service journey, and I thank her for nearly 15 years of outstanding service to the City, including her unwavering leadership during the largest public health emergency in 100 years,” Márquez said in a statement.
When reached by phone this week, Goh declined to comment, noting that she was no longer in the position and deferring to city officials.
Since 2019, Goh has run a historically small but active operation with a tight budget, and rarely the focus of much public light.
That was until COVID-19 hit in 2020, when she would take the lead, issuing Safer at Home orders, sometimes in alignment with the county’s orders and others based on Pasadena’s specific case situation.
She did this while juggling case investigations, vaccine distribution and responding to the pandemic’s impact on nursing homes in the city.
While the response was hailed by current and former city officials, it also had its critics.
Some members of the City Council repeatedly pushed for the city health department to buck county regulations and strike out on its own. Others questioned if the city could have moved faster and done better in the early days of the pandemic. And some continued well into the crisis to ask if the health department fell short responding to deadly outbreaks in elder care facilities.
“No matter how small you are, you still have a core set of functions you need to produce,” Goh told the Star-News for a profile at the time.
In June of 2020, Goh issued a revised Safer at Home order, which went hand-in-hand with proposed reopening plans, regional recovery, and supporting locally-owned businesses.
Ultimately, Goh required different sectors to implement the required protocols of infection control and distancing, before moving forward and reopening.
In 2022, Goh, a board-certified physician, took a 16-month leave of absence for a prestigious fellowship program, but returned in January of 2024.
But that fellowship further exposed her to federal health-related policy making, buffering experience as a senior policy advisor for the Biden Administration, tackling issues such as reproductive healthcare, women’s health and youth health.
When she returned from the D.C. fellowship, she appeared reinvigorated by newfound insight into the federal policymaking process and the city’s role as a recipient of federal funding.
Goh’s program, which included a stint at the Vice President’s Office, kicked off with a rigorous three-month “health policy boot camp.” During this time, Goh and the other fellows engaged in regular book club discussions. She also met leading experts in government and across the industry, such as health insurance and pharmaceutical companies.
For Goh, that replacement took her to the Vice President’s Office. It was a perfect match because Vice President Kamala Harris – now the Democratic party’s frontrunner for the presidency — focuses on women’s reproductive health, something that Goh, a pediatrician, is passionate about.
Her professional experience includes clinical pediatric practice, healthcare management consulting, and community-based participatory research to improve nutrition and physical activity for youth, according to the city.
Goh earned her bachelor’s degree in public policy at Stanford University, where she also received her medical training. She received her master’s degree in health services and research from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.
According to Márquez, Manuel Carmona, who served as interim health director during Goh’s initial leave, will be serve as acting director of the health department, and Dr. Parveen Kaur will be the acting health officer.
“Both held these leadership roles while Dr. Goh was serving at the White House, providing outstanding service during that time,” said Márquez. “I thank them both for stepping up once again in service to our community.”
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