Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services release:

At Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, Dr. Teresa Frankovich was confirmed as Humboldt County’s new Health Officer following the December retirement of Dr. Donald Baird.

Dr. Teresa Frankovich

Frankovich, who has been practicing pediatric medicine since the late 1980s, served a stint at Redwood Pediatric Medical Group in Fortuna from 1991 through 1994.

Prior to moving back to Humboldt County last year and starting work as a pediatrician for Eureka’s Open Door Community Health Center, Frankovich served as Medical Director in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where she covered a rural 10,000 square mile area with about 200,000 residents.

She holds a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences and Psychology from the University of Michigan, a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor and a Master of Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health.

Frankovich said she feels “privileged” to have the opportunity to work with Humboldt County Department of Health & Human Services staff and community partners to continue to address challenges facing our community. “After reading the recent Humboldt Community Health Assessment and seeing the broad range of innovative public health programming offered in this area,” Frankovich said, “I look forward to learning from and serving with the dedicated and remarkable public health team here in Humboldt.”

Dr. Frankovich’s first day with the county is Thursday, Jan. 30. She will continue to work part time at Open Door.