The Disgrace of California's Public Health Leadership
Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Dr. Erica Pan as Director and State Public Health Officer of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) on February 1, 2025, supposedly elevating the state's moral commitment to public health. In her official CDPH biography, Dr. Pan claims she strives to "embody and promote the values of dignity, equity, compassion and humility."
“It is an incredible honor to serve California in this role at a critical time when we need to empower and engage the public to have confidence in the science and evidence that has saved lives and promotes a healthy California for all,” Dr. Pan said about her appointment.
Yet these noble words ring hollow when measured against her catastrophic failure to perform her most basic duty: overseeing California's hospice licensing and certification system while over 150 fraudulent operations systematically defrauded taxpayers of $170 million.
Dr. Pan's ascent to California's top public health post drew directly from her pandemic track record. Beginning as Health Officer for Alameda County in early 2020, the year 2,401 NIH grants were involved in COVID-19 related funding, with significant funding going to institutions in Washington, New York, and California, Dr. Pan made her name by issuing some of California's earliest and most aggressive mandates. Her April 17, 2020 order mandating face coverings for all residents—enforced as a misdemeanor punishable by fine or imprisonment—established her reputation for Draconian measures. Alameda County Supervisor Wilma Chan subsequently praised Pan's leadership, hoping she would "continue to do the type of great work in Sacramento that she has done in Alameda County."
That wish came true three months later. In July 2020, Newsom elevated Dr. Pan to State Epidemiologist and Deputy Director for the Center for Infectious Diseases. During the next four years, Pan became the face of California's vaccine rollout, appearing regularly on CNN promoting COVID shots and issuing official health orders. Her crowning moment came when she received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on camera, broadcasting the message: "I vaccinate myself and my family. Now's the time to vaccinate yourself."
When Dr. Pan assumed directorship of CDPH in February 2025, the agency highlighted her "values of dignity, equity, compassion and humility" as guiding principles. The appointment was portrayed as a triumph of expertise—the pediatric infectious disease specialist who guided California through its darkest pandemic hours would now steward the state's entire public health apparatus.
This narrative conveniently ignored a critical reality: Dr. Pan's agency had presided over years of hospice malfeasance with staggering consequences. As Deputy Director and State Epidemiologist, Pan bore responsibility for California's regulatory oversight of healthcare facilities. Among these duties, perhaps none was more vital than licensing, certifying, and inspecting hospice operations—institutions caring for terminally ill patients and billing Medicare for end-of-life services.
- Early-mid 2020: Alameda County Health Officer (local level - mask mandates, health orders)
- Issued mask mandates: On April 17, 2020, Dr. Pan issued Health Officer Order No. 20-08, which mandated face coverings for all members of the public when around people outside their household. This was among the earliest mandatory masking orders in California.
- July 2020 - January 2025: California State Epidemiologist & Deputy Director for Center for Infectious Diseases (state level)
- January 2025 - present: Director of CDPH and State Public Health Officer (promoted from her epidemiologist role)
The absurdity of the fraud should have triggered immediate intervention. Federal prosecutors revealed that at least one operator, Nita Palma, allegedly ran three fraudulent hospices while incarcerated in federal prison, operating them remotely through proxies. Another operator, free on bond for previous fraud charges, continued billing Medicare through multiple shell companies. Healthy patients were enrolled in hospice care without their knowledge, then "treated" for terminal illnesses they didn't have.
CBS News' March 2026 investigation labeled Los Angeles "ground zero for hospice fraud," finding that Dr. Pan's department had systematically failed to identify obvious red flags. The Congressional Oversight Committee found "alarming evidence of fraudulent activity in California's hospice programs," specifically noting that CDPH-licensed agencies were "overbilling Medicare and fraudulently enrolling beneficiaries without their knowledge."
Dr. Pan's proclaimed values—dignity, equity, compassion, humility—stand in grotesque juxtaposition to her professional conduct. Where was the “dignity” for terminally ill patients denied legitimate hospice care? Where was the “equity” when taxpayer resources meant for vulnerable populations were siphoned to criminal enterprises? Where was the “compassion” for families who lost Medicare coverage because their loved ones were fraudulently enrolled in hospice care? And where is the “humility” in refusing to acknowledge catastrophic failure?
The April 2026 federal takedown—"Operation Never Say Die"—arrested eight individuals and charged fifteen defendants in a $50-60 million fraud scheme. Yet Dr. Pan retained her position. There has been no accountability, no acknowledgment of systemic regulatory breakdown, and certainly no resignation for the public health executive whose oversight allowed California to become a "kingdom of fraud," as the Justice Department labeled it.
Dr. Pan's trajectory reveals a troubling pattern: from COVID authoritarianism to regulatory catatonia. In the pandemic, she exercised virtually unlimited authority to mandate masking, restrict movement, and direct medical policy across California's 39 million residents. Yet when tasked with actual oversight—ensuring that state-licensed hospices weren't criminal enterprises—she failed completely.
The $170 million stolen through hospice fraud represents money diverted from legitimate end-of-life care. It represents trust violated by institutions bearing the state's imprimatur. It represents the breakdown of governance at CDPH during years when Pan was supposedly exercising vigilant public health leadership.
Dr. Erica Pan's COVID credentials, that should have been disqualifying, earned her the keys to California's public health kingdom. But her tenure has exposed a fundamental truth: expertise in infectious disease and comfort with executive mandates do not translate to competent regulatory oversight. As the director of CDPH, Pan was entrusted with protecting Californians—including those facing their final days—from exploitation and abuse. Instead, her department's incompetence enabled one of the largest frauds in state history.
The values she claims to embody—dignity, equity, compassion, humility—demanded better. Dr. Pan failed those values, failed her fiduciary responsibility, and failed the 1.6 million people of Alameda County first and all of California today. If humility were truly one of her guiding principles, she would acknowledge this failure and resign her six figure salary. So far, that humility remains as absent as her effective oversight of federal and state taxpayer dollars and concern for elder care.
UCSF's Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS)—where Dr. Pan's traineeship was based—is heavily dependent on NIH funding:
- CAPS receives "a grant from the United States National Institute of Mental Health (P30 MH062246)" to support its operations
- The Innovative Pilot Awards Program that CAPS runs prioritizes funding projects that lead to "future NIH R01 grant proposals"
- CAPS received $628,000 in "Ending the Epidemic" research grants from NIH's National Institute of Mental Health
Timeline Consideration:
Based on her LinkedIn profile, Dr. Pan appears to have been at CDPH in some capacity from 1988-1996 (though this may reflect a different early career position). She completed her medical degree at Tufts and then her pediatric residency and chief residency at UCSF, followed by her pediatric infectious disease fellowship and AIDS traineeship.
The Fauci Connection:
The UCSF International Traineeships in AIDS Prevention Studies (ITAPS) and the domestic Traineeships in AIDS Prevention Studies (TAPS) programs—which Dr. Pan completed—are explicitly funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
According to Grantome and NIH RePORTER databases:
-
ITAPS Grant: R25-MH064712 (National Institute of Mental Health)
- The UCSF International Traineeships in AIDS Prevention Studies program receives direct NIH funding to "advance global research in HIV prevention and implementation science"
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TAPS Grant: T32-MH019105 (National Institute of Mental Health)
- The domestic Traineeship in AIDS Prevention Studies program is housed within UCSF's Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS)
- PI/Project Leader: Susan M. Kegeles
While Dr. Fauci directed the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) funded Dr. Pan's AIDS traineeship. However, both institutes are part of NIH, and Dr. Fauci served on various NIH committees and AIDS-related federal advisory bodies during that era that would have coordinated HIV/AIDS research funding across NIH institutes.
So while Dr. Pan's traineeship at UCSF was physically in California and funded primarily through NIMH rather than NIAID, the same federal NIH structure that Dr. Fauci was a senior leader within was financing the program she attended.
Dr Pan's Education & Medical Training:
- Undergraduate: Stanford University
- Medical Degree (MD): Tufts University School of Medicine
- Master of Public Health (MPH)
- Residency: Pediatrics at University of California at San Francisco (UCSF)
- Chief Residency: Pediatrics
- Fellowship: Pediatric Infectious Disease
- Additional Training: Traineeship in AIDS
Professional Background:
- Specialty: Pediatric Infectious Disease Specialist
- Previous Position: California State Epidemiologist & Deputy Director of the Center for Infectious Diseases (before her current CDPH appointment)
- Prior Role: Health Officer for the City and County of San Francisco (since July 2018)
- Academic Affiliation: UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals (San Francisco and Oakland)
Dr. Erica Pan's Traineeship in AIDS Prevention Studies was conducted at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).
Based on her LinkedIn profile, Dr. Pan appears to have been at CDPH in some capacity from 1988-1996 (though this may reflect a different early career position). She completed her medical degree at Tufts and then her pediatric residency and chief residency at UCSF, followed by her pediatric infectious disease fellowship and AIDS traineeship.
According to Dr. Pan's own Reddit post from May 2021, her background includes: "completion of a Pediatric residency, chief residency, and Pediatric Infectious Disease, and Traineeship in AIDS Prevention Studies Fellowships at the University of California, San Francisco."
Dr. Pan and Dr. Fauci have both appeared at the same public health events—most notably during COVID-19 pandemic briefings in 2020-2022 when health officials from California and federal agencies coordinated responses. This would have been professional interaction as peers in the infectious disease and public health fields.Editorial comments expressed in this column are the sole opinion of the writer
