Christina R. Ghaly, M.D. is the director for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services.

I hope the new year is off to a good start for you. Incredibly, the first month of the year is already behind us and we have so much to look forward to in the months to come.

We are currently preparing the annual report that captures some of the important work that we put forth to care for our patients and our communities. 2023 was a successful year in many ways. Our highly accomplished workforce implemented innovative programs to address complex needs. Remarkably, various programs throughout L.A. Health Services received national, state and local recognition. Look out for the accomplishments that will be featured in the forthcoming annual report. Congratulations to our colleagues for their well-deserved recognition.

A decade ago, we filled a critical gap in health coverage by starting a primary care program called My Health LA (MHLA). Since 2014, MHLA has served hundreds of thousands of low-income, uninsured immigrants who did not qualify for public health insurance. MHLA enabled those patients to obtain high quality care through our community partners. The program adapted over time in response to evolving laws and regulations. As of January 1, 2024, the patients who relied on MHLA are all now eligible for full scope Medi-Cal and MHLA will end. See below to learn more about this excellent program that helped so many.

This month, we’re providing highlights of three programs that will be featured in our annual report.

Shifting gears, L.A. Health Services’ performance exceeds the 90th percentile California state benchmark on several measures of clinical quality! Public health systems like ours participate in the California Quality Incentive Pool (QIP) program, which sets performance expectations to improve health outcomes, enhance healthcare provider performance and strengthen health equity. See below to learn more about it.

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center launched a new donor milk program to help our littlest patients thrive. The program enables lactating women to safely donate their breast milk to babies in the NICU unit who benefit from the ideal nutrition provided by human breast milk. See below.

In response to an identified need to address food insecurity among some of our patients, L.A. Health Services partnered with the Department of Public Health to find solutions to this challenging situation. The resulting program is called FoodRx. Food insecurity can make it difficult for our patients to consume a healthy diet on a regular basis, which can in turn yield negative health outcomes. See below to learn more about this program.

Finally, the CDC and the Department of Public Health are updating the guidelines related to COVID-19. Please see below to learn more about it.

Thank you for all you do.

Dr. Christina Ghaly

Dr. Christina Ghaly is the director for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (DHS). In this role, Ghaly supervises and oversees operations of DHS’ directly operated delivery system, including four hospitals and a network of standalone community clinics. She also provides supervision of the following DHS divisions: Finance, Office of Patient Access, Performance Improvement, Nursing Affairs, and Planning & Data Analytics. Dr. Ghaly received her medical degree from Harvard Medical School. Ghaly joined the L.A. Care Board of Governors in May 2017.