2021 LWVMC Community Service Award presented to Dr.Matt Willis & Dr. Lisa santora, Marin County public health officers on Oct. 7, 2021

The Outstanding Community Service Award was established in 1990. It was created to honor Bunny Lucheta, aide to Senator Peter Behr, who passed away at the peak of her career. Many League members had worked with Bunny and wanted to honor her and the example that she set for community service. This award is presented annually at our Fall Kickoff, one year to a League member and the next to a community leader.

Our League’s Board of Directors agreed that in this past year and a half our county has seen many standout leaders who have stepped up to do critically important work in our community and would like to honor and thank them all.

Our BOD voted to honor a team of people for their outstanding service during this exceedingly challenging time: Dr. Lisa Santora and Dr. Matt Willis, our Marin County Public Health Officers, whose steadfast leadership has guided our county’s public health strategy throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dr. Willis became our Public Health Officer in 2013 and Dr. Santora joined as Deputy in 2016. So, they had already been working hard for our county for a number of years before the pandemic hit and put our Public Health Department in the spotlight.

From the beginning of this public health crisis, Dr. Santora and Dr. Willis communicated directly and regularly with our community about what was going on, what we should do to stay safe and why these actions and precautions were necessary.  They looked to science and data from emerging research to guide public health decisions—to decide what was best for all of Marin. In the beginning, there were so many unknowns about this virus. As the science has emerged, you have shared what you are learning with us, and even contributed to the emerging knowledge base with an important case study on COVID transmission in a Marin County classroom—published by the CDC. I believe this was the first such report. This scientific, data-driven approach has engendered trust in the decisions you have made for our community. We note that when Dr. Willis contracted Covid19 early in the pandemic, Dr. Santora took the lead seamlessly giving great confidence to the public.

Drs. Santora and Willis took an equity approach to maximizing the health and safety of our all our communities, working in close collaboration with community leaders to determine what is needed and to get it done—from testing and contact tracing to vaccinations.  When vaccines became available, putting the elderly at the front of they line because they were/are the most vulnerable to severe disease and death. They also made a concerted push to vaccinate in communities where people who, because of their living or work situations, are at especially high risk of contracting the virus—notably lower income people of color. Again, they did this by working with trusted groups in those communities.

As a result of this work, Marin County is the most vaccinated county in the state—possibly the nation.

The work of Dr. Santora and Dr. Willis with and for our schools has been exemplary. Providing critical support , focused health data and protocols to the Marin County Office of Education and local public school districts that enabled Marin schools to be among the first in the State to have in-person instruction in the 2020-2021 school year and for continued in-person education this school year.  

Throughout the COVID19 pandemic they have kept us informed with regular COVID updates—including presentations at Marin County Board of Supervisors’ meetings, targeted presentations to the schools community and to people working in nonprofits and community-based organizations. Both Dr. Santora and Dr. Willis are excellent communicators! The daily Marin County COVID-19 Status Update is terrific and the Surveillance Data dashboard with data broken out by geography, demographics, and more is so informative.

In addition to the wonderful job they do keeping us informed, we have it on good authority that they receive high praise from your colleagues on the front lines for the respect and appreciation that they show them.

Our County’s response to COVID is being held up as an example of best practice. The Marin County government was recently showcased at the International City/County Management Association for their response to the COVID crisis. Marin County was one of 11 cities and counties highlighted.

The 2021 Outstanding Community Service Award is presented to both Dr. Matt Willis, Marin County Public Health Officer, and Dr. Lisa Santora, Marin County Deputy Public Health Officer.

LANGUAGE ON CERTIFICATES

In recognition of [her/his] public health leadership and dedication to the health and well-being of all Marin County residents; [her/his] commitment to using science to guide our county’s public health strategy; and [her/his] adherence to innovative, equitable, and deeply collaborative approaches to meeting the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.