California Department of Public Health

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is the state department responsible for public health in California. It is a subdivision of the California Health and Human Services Agency. It enforces some of the laws in the California Health and Safety Codes, notably the licensing of some types of healthcare facilities. One of its functions is to oversee vital records operations throughout the state. On August 9, 2020, Dr. Sonia Y. Angell resigned as the CDPH Director and State Public Health Officer. Governor Gavin Newsom indicated Angell's resignation was related to data issues with the California Reportable Disease Information Exchange (CalREDIE) system that resulted in nearly 300,000 backlogged COVID-19 test results. On August 10, 2020, Sandra Shewry was appointed as acting director and Dr. Erica Pan, California state epidemiologist, was named acting state public health officer. On December 7, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom announced Tomás Aragón, MD, DrPH as the next Director and State Public Health Officer of the California Department of Public Health. Medical Marijuana Program CDPH operates the Medical Marijuana Program, tasked with issuing identification cards under Compassionate Use Act of 1996, and California Senate Bill 420.