UC Davis’ Bair appointed to California Women’s Health Council

Yali Bair, assistant director of state health policy research at the UC Davis Center for Health Services Research, is among 16 new appointees to the California Women’s Health Council, a 26-member group of statewide health policy experts who advise and assist the director and California Department of Health Services’ (CDHS) Office of Women’s Health.

“The expertise and experience offered by these new members will be invaluable to our continuing efforts to address specific health problems facing women,” said State Health Director Sandra Shewry. “We deeply appreciate the commitment of these community leaders to improve the health of all California women.”

Bair has more than 15 years of experience in health care, health research and policy analysis. Her experience includes community clinic administration, women’s health clinic management, and research experience in epidemiology and health services. She currently serves as chair of the Yolo County Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health Advisory Board. Her ongoing research efforts focus on women’s health during the menopause transition and unmet health care needs among women.

Established in 1993, the Office of Women’s Health provides policy recommendations and research on women’s issues that lead to the improved health and well-being of California women and girls. It also supports efforts to eliminate health disparities related to race, ethnicity and disabilities.

Here are the other individuals appointed by Shewry to serve on the council:

• Golnaz Agahi, Irvine: Agahi has experience working with homeless youth and women in recovery. She currently works as a supervisor in an alcohol and drug prevention program in Orange County and as a licensed clinical social worker in Los Angeles County. In her previous capacity as a project coordinator with the High Risk Youth Clinic at Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles she advocated for policies to improve the welfare of youth on a local level. She also advocated for services and raised awareness of the challenges facing young girls living on the streets, including intimate partner violence.

• Gilda Arrequin, Fresno: As education and outreach program manager for the Fresno County Economic Opportunities Commission’s Health Services Clinic, Arrequin plans and coordinates a system that provides street outreach and educational programs to at-risk youth and adults in Fresno County and rural communities in surrounding counties. She promotes awareness of clinical reproductive health care and counseling services and prevention of high-risk behaviors that lead to teen pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS.

• Bev Ching, Alta Loma: As program manager/clinical services coordinator with the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, Ching is responsible for developing services to improve the basic health care of 21,000 individuals with developmental disabilities, along with employee health for more than 500 staff at the regional center. Ching supervises a clinical team that provides occupational therapy, physical therapy, nursing, dental hygiene, nutrition, social work and genetic nursing. She also has extensive experience in various capacities with the center’s Early Start Program.

• Namju Cho, Los Angeles: As communications and policy director of the Los Angeles-based Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST), Cho is at the forefront of local, statewide and national efforts to advocate for and protect the reproductive and human rights of trafficked individuals. She oversees all advocacy activities at CAST. Cho is regularly consulted on documentaries and news productions regarding trafficking and frequently speaks at conferences and hearings to raise awareness. As a member of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, Cho has been actively involved in developing the national agenda for Asian/Pacific Islander women, including protecting women working in the cosmetics industry from toxic beauty products.

• Crystal Crawford, Los Angeles: Crawford is chief executive officer and attorney for the California Black Women’s Health Project in Los Angeles, the only statewide, non-profit organization solely dedicated to improving the health of California’s black women and girls through education, policy, outreach and advocacy. Crawford coordinates and facilitates town hall meetings, policy meetings and community education programs, and participates in various statewide committees and meetings addressing health disparities affecting women of color. She also educates and informs policymakers about black women’s health and related policy issues and solutions.

• Raquel F. Donoso, Oakland: As associate director of the Latino Issues Forum in Alameda County, Donoso has authored three reports on environmental and reproductive health issues facing the Latino community in California. She serves as chair of the Women’s Health Rights Coalition/ACCESS Board of Directors in Oakland and is a member of the East Bay Regional Parks Foundation Board of Directors. She also serves as a policy adviser for several organizations, including the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, Women’s Foundation of California, California Pan Ethnic Health Network and National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health.

• Rae Eby-Carl, Witter Springs (Lake County): As chief operations officer for the Lake Family Resource Center/Sutter Lakeside Community Services in rural Lake County, Eby-Carl administers 22 health programs that provide services to women and their families. These programs address teen pregnancy prevention, teen parent health, family violence, insurance, quality child development, sexual assault, tobacco cessation, child abuse treatment prevention and mental health. Cumulative environ- mental causes and associated risk contributors detrimental to health are a concern to her in regard to illness in older women. She serves on the Lake County Tribal Health Advisory Committee for Diabetes Prevention, Lake County Free Kitchen Board and Lake County Domestic Violence Prevention Council.

• Ellen Eidem, Los Angeles: As acting director of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services’ Office of Women’s Health (OWH), Eidem serves as staff for the Women’s Health Policy Council, the advisory body to OWH. Eidem recently administered a $2 million, two-year multimedia cultural cervical cancer prevention and education initiative and continues to manage an appointment hotline in seven languages and a mobile clinic program providing no-cost, comprehensive health screenings to low-income women. She recently launched a multi-year, multi-cultural “Prevention Matters” campaign to improve heart health and reduce chronic disease.

• Ernestina Escareño, Victorville: Escareño is a high school teacher with the Victor Valley School District in San Bernardino County. She provides health education and helps students prepare for participation in the annual health occupational students conference for careers in the health field. Her many volunteer activities have included the Los Angeles Pediatric AIDS Network and AIDS Project, 1987 Whittier earthquake with the Red Cross, and fund-raising activities to send children and families affected by HIV/AIDS to Camp Laurel.

• Shelley Mitchell, Arcata: As a self-employed consultant in Humboldt County, Mitchell provides non-profit organizations with expertise in grant writing and fund raising, funding research, strategic planning, project development, management, evaluation and flier development. Mitchell works with individuals and businesses on projects related to public relations/materials outreach, research and writing projects. In 2005, she worked with a team of consultants from Humboldt State University and a task force appointed by the Arcata City Council to create a homeless services plan. She is interested in issues important to women of all ages who live in rural communities.

• Catherine Quinn, Fresno: As executive director of the California Health Collaborative in Fresno, Quinn has provided steadfast leadership to community health efforts in the Central Valley and throughout the state for more than 20 years. She directed health services for the Fresno County Economic Opportunities Commission and for Urban Indian Health Services, Inc. She is recognized for her program development skills and credited with the collaborative’s transition from a three-program, non-profit affiliate of the Hospital Council with an operating budget of less than $500,000 to an independent, Fresno-based, non-profit public benefit corporation with more than 20 local, regional and statewide programs and an annual operating budget of more than $15 million.

• Dr. Diana E. Ramos, Laguna Beach: As an obstetrician/ gynecologist and medical director for family planning and maternal health for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, she oversees Title X clinics, the Comprehensive Perinatal Services Program, perinatal HIV screening, fetal infant mortality review, black infant health and Family PACT issues. As a Spanish-speaking physician serving Latino communities, she has vast experience in dealing with women who have had difficulty in accessing and obtaining health care.

• Sarah Samuels, Oakland: Samuels is president of Samuels & Associates, a public health evaluation, research and policy consulting firm created and founded in 1994 in Alameda County. The firm serves as a consultant to foundations, local and statewide public agencies, community-based organizations, and non-profit health programs. It specializes in program develop- ment and evaluation, policy-related research and analysis, and strategic planning. Samuels is co-chair of the California Project LEAN Steering Committee, a founding member of the Strategic Alliance to Promote Healthy Food and Physical Activity Environments, and on the board of California Food Policy Advocates.

• Tracy A. Weitz, Berkeley: Weitz has more than 20 years of experience in clinical services, quality of care and health care research. Much of her current work focuses on reproductive health care and aging women’s health. Her passion is for the aspects of women’s health that are marginalized either for ideological reasons or because the affected populations lack the means or mechanisms to have their concerns raised.

• Mary Wiberg, Sacramento: As executive director of the California Commission on the Status of Women in Sacramento County, Wiberg has worked closely with the California Legislature, Office of Women’s Health and Women’s Health Council. Wiberg is an advocate for a broad array of issues that affect women’s health, including human trafficking, violence against women, access to health care, immigrant status, economic security and women in prison. She is also interested in issues that affect women internationally and has participated in projects in Africa, Ukraine and Russia and as a member of a Fulbright Study Group in China.

For more information about the Office of Women’s Health and the Women’s Health Council, log on to http://www.dhs.ca.gov/director/owh.