Yuba and Sutter counties are proud to welcome Dr. Ngoc-Phuong Luu as the Bi-County Health Officer providing overall medical direction and public health guidance for the region.
     
     For the last four and a half years, Dr. Luu has been the medical director of public health in the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, a small U.S. territory in the Pacific with a population of approximately 50,000. There, she worked on a variety of public health issues including emergency preparedness and recovery following a super typhoon in 2018; surveillance and management of communicable diseases such as tuberculosis, STDs and dengue fever; and programmatic and policies to address non-communicable diseases prevention such as hypertension, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease.
     
     “I look forward to working with the talented teams from both counties, medical professionals, and community leaders and stakeholders to address the various public health issues facing the counties,” Dr. Luu said. “My overarching goal is to work towards a happy, healthy, and safe bi-county region.”
     
     She graduated from University of Washington School of Medicine with honors in 2010 before serving her Internal Medicine Residency – Primary Care Track at George Washington University through 2013. She then had a General Internal Medicine Fellowship at Johns Hopkins University from 2013 to 2015. While at Hopkins, she also obtained a Master of Health Sciences in Clinical Epidemiology. During that time, her research focused on transitions of care and end of life goals discussion. She holds an active California State Medical License.
   
     “Our search for the right fit in our community led us straight to Dr. Luu,” Yuba County Administrator Robert Bendorf said. “Her breadth of knowledge and experience makes her an invaluable asset to our public health programs.
     
     This is a new position that was approved by both county Boards. Dr. Luu begins in this postion Monday, Jan. 13.