Expertise and unique qualifications cited
Woodland, Calif. – Dr. Aimee Sisson will serve as Yolo County's new Public Health Officer and will be appointed by the Yolo County Board of Supervisors on September 29, following the retirement of Dr. Ron Chapman in June of 2020. Yolo County welcomes Dr. Sisson's passion and expertise to the team to navigate COVID-19 and all public health issues in our communities.
"I am honored to be given this opportunity to protect and promote the health of all people living in Yolo County," said Yolo County's new Public Health Officer Dr. Aimee Sisson. "Being a local health officer is challenging during a pandemic, but this is what I have trained for. I look forward to using my skills to keep the community healthy, whether the threat is COVID-19, obesity, mental illness, wildfire smoke, or poverty."
Dr. Sisson has multiple connections and personal ties to Yolo County, including being a graduate of the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) and previous experience running a small urban farm in West Sacramento. She also serves as an Assistant Professor on the volunteer clinical faculty at UC Davis, where she teaches graduate students in public health.
Dr. Sisson previously served as the Public Health Officer for Placer County and comes to Yolo with a wide breadth of professional experience and a personal passion for public health. She is board certified in Public Health and General Preventive Medicine by the American Board of Preventive Medicine and licensed by the State of California as a Physician and Surgeon. In addition to Dr. Sisson's formal public health career, she also promotes public health through her passion for urban farming. She views farming as an extension of public health efforts to increase access to healthy and affordable foods, which is a focus of Yolo County's Health and Human Services Agency.
Prior to serving as the Public Health Officer for Placer County, Dr. Sisson served as a Public Health Medical Officer at the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) for over 10 years. In that role, she directed CDPH's Preventive Medicine Residency Program and the California Epidemiologic Investigation Service Fellowship Program, overseeing the training of future public health leaders.
She engaged regularly with local health officers and epidemiologists, individually and through statewide organizations. Additionally, while at CDPH, Dr. Sisson led a mental health disparities project, helped to start the interagency Health in All Policies Task Force, and raised awareness of public health impacts from climate change. Dr. Sisson is excited to work on Health in All Policies once more in Yolo County, whose 5-year Strategic Plan addresses health equity with a Health in All Policies approach to governance.
Dr. Sisson's education and post-graduate training have prepared her to serve as a local health officer. After completing medical school and an internship in general surgery, she earned her Master of Public Health degree in epidemiology from UC Davis, then completed residency in preventive medicine at CDPH. As part of her residency, she spent 9 months at a local health department prior to obtaining her board certification as a Public Health and General Preventive Medicine physician.
"Dr. Sisson's unique qualifications and experience make her an ideal fit for Yolo County," said Chair of the Yolo County Board of Supervisors Gary Sandy. "Her insights and expertise will be a great help in combatting COVID-19 and a range of other issues commonly associated with ag counties in California."
Dr. Larissa May, who has been serving as the Interim Public Health Officer since August 4, will be stepping down from her role. Yolo County sincerely thanks Dr. May for her leadership and integrity during the search for a permanent Public Health Officer. Dr. Mary Ann Limbos will continue to serve as Deputy Public Health Officer in Yolo County.