EVERETT – Dr. Gary Goldbaum, who will take over as the new chief of the Snohomish Health District next month, said he thinks of his new job as being the family physician to the community.
And like a family physician, he hopes to bring attention to major causes of illness and death, such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity.
“I want to make sure we’re focusing attention on what we already know are the killers, the disablers in society in a huge way,” he said. “I want to focus on prevention.”
Goldbaum, 54, was selected to be the new health officer for the countywide public health agency last week. He will start his job on Feb. 1.
He will lead an agency with 255 employees and an annual budget of $20 million.
Goldbaum now works as senior medical epidemiologist and director of HIV epidemiology for the public health agency of Seattle and King County.
His career spans a variety of experiences, from working as a family physician in Townshend, Vt., to a residency in preventive medicine for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Prior to his current job for the King County health agency, Goldbaum was medical director for its HIV-AIDS program. He has written extensively in professional journals on a number of issues including AIDS and HIV-related issues and preventing underage use of tobacco.
Goldbaum has taught in various capacities for the University of Washington’s medical school, including the family medicine and internal medicine departments.
Educating the public is critical to improving public health, he said. “An educated public is a public that can make good (health) decisions.”
That can be anything from reminders to children and adults about summertime water safety to informing the public on disease outbreaks, he said.
Goldbaum, an avid bicyclist, rides nine miles to his current job in downtown Seattle.
It will be 25 miles from his King County home to the health district offices on Rucker Avenue in Everett. Still, he said he hopes to ride rather than drive the distance once or twice a week when the weather allows.
“I want to encourage physical activity and good nutrition as key prevention strategies in the community,” he said.
In addition to biking, he enjoys backpacking and downhill and cross-county skiing. Last summer, he and his son spent three days hiking along the Olympic coast.
Goldbaum said he looks forward to meeting doctors and other community leaders in Snohomish County.
“Public health isn’t just about medicine and the health care system,” he said. “It’s also about safety in the workplace, about partnerships with those in the community.”
He said he would like to work with business leaders to build cooperation. “Sometimes, all it takes is talking to one another so we know what we can bring to the table in an emergency or the day-to-day work,” Goldbaum said.
Reporter Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.
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