Dr. Geoffrey Leung appointed as Riverside County’s new public health officer
Riverside County Board of Supervisors appointed Dr. Geoffrey Leung as the county's new public health officer.
Leung will take over for Dr. Cameron Kaiser, who served in the position since Oct. 2013. There was no immediate reason for Kaiser being replaced, but a news release reveals he is no longer employed by the Riverside County, which was a decision made by county CEO Jeff Van Wagenen.
“I want to thank Dr. Kaiser for his tireless work throughout this pandemic in service to our residents, communities, county agencies, cities, school districts and many other groups,” said CEO Jeff Van Wagenen.
We reached out to county officials for more information on Kaiser's departure, however, they could not share more details. County public information officer Brooke Federico did confirm that Kaiser was not in a contract.
County officials also said there is no separation agreement with Dr. Kaiser.
The change will officially go into effect today.
Leung earned his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine and a master’s degree in education from Harvard University. He has been with Riverside County since 2006 and previously served as the Chair of the County's Family Medicine Department, a position he held for nine years.
Leung has also been leading the county’s Incident Management Team for the Riverside County vaccine rollout since December.
"He's been here reporting out for the last couple of months, so very well received, very knowledgeable, and we look forward to having him lead us out of this," said Board Chair Karen Spiegel.
The county health officer enforces county ordinances, as well as state and federal statutes pertaining to public health and sanitary matters within the unincorporated areas of the county, and within all cities in Riverside County.
Kaiser clashed with some of the supervisors during the pandemic over the public health orders he issued. Over the past year, supervisors have voted to remove some of his health orders, such as the mask mandate for short time in May 2020.
In April 2020, Fifth District Supervisor Jeff Hewitt wrote a public letter accusing Kaiser of "continuing a campaign of fear." The letter came after Kaiser opted to extend the order to wear masks in public.
Stay with News Channel 3 for updates.
Dr. Leung has been a guest on News Channel 3 several times over the past year answering pandemic-related questions. Check out some of our previous interviews below:
