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San Mateo County announced Colleen Chawla as the new chief of San Mateo County Health, succeeding retiring county Health Chief Louise Rogers, according to a Thursday, Dec. 5, county press release.
“I’m thrilled to introduce Colleen to our community. She brings tremendous enthusiasm to take on this leadership role that is so impactful to so many of our residents,” said County Executive Mike Callagy in a prepared statement. “Her expansive health and executive leadership experience will serve the county and community well today and into the future.”
Rogers has served as the county health chief since 2015. This fall, she announced her retirement after overseeing multiple community health divisions for 22 years.
“I’ve known Colleen for many years,” Rogers said in a prepared statement. “We navigated — and weathered — many of the challenges of the (COVID-19) pandemic together as Bay Area health directors and she was consistently calm and thoughtful in the face of everything coming our way. She also seems to find grace and a sense of humor as so often is needed. I will retire with great confidence that County Health is in great hands.”
Chawla’s passion for health, equity and justice traces back to her volunteer work for an AIDS information hotline more than 30 years ago. She holds a master’s degree in public administration and health services from the University of San Francisco and a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Southern California.
Chawla is joining San Mateo County from Alameda County Health where she has served as agency director since 2017. Some 13 years prior, she held several roles at the San Francisco Department of Public Health, including deputy director of health.
As the Alameda County Health director, Chawla has overseen 1,900 employees, a $1.2 million annual budget and worked on public health, behavioral health, environmental health and housing and homelessness projects. Alameda County has a population of about 1.6 million people, more than double of San Mateo County.
Chawla will be taking on San Mateo County’s largest department, which operates the San Mateo Medical Center and a network of clinics serving 100,000 community members. County Health also operates a public health lab, does restaurant inspections, provides substance use counseling and protects seniors and other populations.
The county Board of Supervisors is expecting to confirm Chawla’s appointment during its meeting on Dec. 10.
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