Dr. Takashi Wada,
Director/Health Officer

Takashi Michael Wada, MD, MPH began service as the Director and Health Officer for the County of Santa Barbara Public Health Department in March 2010. In this capacity, he is responsible for providing overall direction for the Public Health Department including policy development, community health planning, public health emergency preparedness, health regulations enforcement and supervision of all department clinics, staff, programs and services.  Prior to this position, Dr. Wada served as Director and Health Officer for the Pasadena Public Health Department for 6 years.  He completed his undergraduate degree in biomedical sciences at UC Riverside, both his medical degree and master’s degree in public health at UCLA and subsequently practiced as a primary care physician at Kaiser Permanente, several community free clinics in Southern California and internationally in Mexico and South America.  He also completed a National Institutes of Health Fellowship at UCLA focused on access to healthcare and an Executive Leadership Program at Harvard University. 

Michele Mickiewicz, Deputy Director, Community Health Division

As Deputy Director for the Community Health Division, Michele Mickiewicz directs the operations for the population-based health services provided through the Public Health Department.  Population-based public health services are directed at protecting and improving the health of the community as a whole.  This is different than medical care services which are directed at improving the health of the individual.

Population-based public health services include prevention and wellness services such as immunizations, smoking cessation, cancer screening, injury prevention, tuberculosis, and rabies control.

“Most people don’t realize the Public Health Department touches their lives each day”, Michele notes. “We oversee restaurant inspections, emergency and disaster preparedness, communicable disease investigations, and animal services.”

Michele is originally from Detroit, Michigan and has a Master’s Degree in Public Health from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She came to Santa Barbara and started her career with the Public Health Department in 1981.  She loves to cook and enjoys hiking, and spending time with friends and family.

Anne Fearon,
Deputy Director

Anne Fearon oversees Information Technology, Human Resources, Contracts and Facilities. She has been with the County for over 20 years.

Anne graduated from SUNY, New Paltz with a BS in Biology and completed a post-graduate certification program in IT at Columbia University.  Her IT experience included American Express and RCA before joining the County in 1988.

Anne is married with 2 children and recently added a County shelter dog to the family.

Susan Klein-Rothschild, Assistant
Deputy Director

Susan Klein-Rothschild is the Assistant Deputy Director in the Community Health Division where she oversees a broad range of programs that support the health of the general population.  The programs include Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, Disease Control & Prevention, the Public Health Laboratory, Epidemiology, Vital Records, Sexual Assault Response Team, Human Services grants, and Women, Infants and Children (WIC).  Susan is also the Public Information Officer for the department.

Susan brings a Master’s Degree in Social Work, more than 30 years as a manager in human service organizations, and work experience at the local, state and national levels to her position at Public Health.

She states: “I love contributing through the diversity of programs and services that play a meaningful role in people’s lives.”

Susan likes an active lifestyle and is engaged in physical activities, social activities and adventure travel with her family.