Barbara Ferrer

Ferrer was born in Puerto Rico and came to the United States when she was 17 in order to attend a college in Ohio, later dropping out after a year.{{cite web|url=https://magazine.ucsc.edu/2020/10/barbara-ferrer-advocating-for-justice-through-public-health/|title=Barbara Ferrer: Advocating for justice through public health|date=October 2020|author=Townsend, Peggy|website=UC Santa Cruz Magazine}}

After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in community studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz, Ferrer went on to earn a Master of Public Health from Boston University and a Master of Education from the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Ferrer earned her PhD in social welfare from Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University in 1994.

Ferrer began with leadership roles in public health with five years at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, where she was director of Health Promotion & Chronic Disease Prevention and later director of the Division of Maternal & Child Health.{{Cite web |title=Dr. Barbara Ferrer and Linh Nguyen named to key senior leadership positions |url=https://www.wkkf.org:443/news-and-media/article/2014/09/barbara-ferrer-and-linh-nguyen-named-to-key-senior-leadership-positions |access-date=2022-03-27 |website=W.K. Kellogg Foundation |language=en-US}} She also served as the executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission (2007-2014) and the chief strategy officer for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.{{cite news |last1=Oliveira |first1=Rebecca |title=Ferrer steps down as BPHC head |url=http://jamaicaplaingazette.com/2014/09/26/ferrer-steps-down-as-bphc-head/ |access-date=2 January 2021 |publisher=Jamaica Plain Gazette |date=September 26, 2014}}{{cite news |last1=Malamut |first1=Melissa |title=Barbara Ferrer Is Leaving the Public Health Commission |url=https://www.bostonmagazine.com/health/2014/09/08/barbara-ferrer-leaving-public-health-commission/ |access-date=2 January 2021 |publisher=Boston Magazine |date=September 8, 2014}}

In January 2017, Ferrer was appointed to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to replace interim director Cynthia Harding after previous director Jonathan Fielding retired in 2014.{{cite web|url=https://theavtimes.com/2017/01/10/county-appoints-new-public-health-director/|title=County appoints new public health director|date=January 10, 2017|website=Antelope Valley Press}} As director of L.A. County Department of Public Health, Ferrer has been prominent during the COVID-19 pandemic.{{Cite web|last=Cosgrove|first=Jaclyn|date=2021-06-05|title=Barbara Ferrer is dedicated to equity. But after 24,000 died, she wonders if she did enough|url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-06-05/facing-tough-covid-calls-ferrer-charts-steady-la-course|access-date=2021-09-01|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|title=LA County Public Health Director On Area's Spike In COVID-19 Cases|url=https://www.npr.org/2021/07/24/1020224663/la-county-public-health-director-on-areas-spike-in-covid-19-cases|access-date=2021-09-01|website=NPR.org|language=en}}{{Cite news|last=Armus|first=Teo|date=December 10, 2020|title=L.A. health director nearly breaks down in tears at coronavirus briefing: 'Deaths are an incalculable loss'|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/12/10/los-angeles-covid-barbara-ferrer-cries/|access-date=September 2, 2021}}

Total deaths from the Covid-19 in LA under Ferrer’s watch are 38,121 per data from the Department of Public Health:

http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/coronavirus/data/index.htm

Ferrer currently sits on the advisory board of The Network for Public Health Law, a nonprofit offering legal support to public health officials across the U.S.{{Cite web |title=Barbara Ferrer Archives |url=https://www.networkforphl.org/attorneys-and-staff/barbara-ferrer/ |access-date=2024-02-14 |website=Network for Public Health Law |language=en-US}}

In March 2020, Ferrer responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in Los Angeles by ordering some of the most severe restrictions in the US, which resulted in countless businesses, public schools, public parks, and beaches, being shut down for several months. Ferrer also mandated the use of masks in Los Angeles County.{{cite web|url=https://www.sfgate.com/coronavirus/article/Los-Angeles-County-mask-mandate-indoors-COVID-19-16318017.php|title=Los Angeles County to require everyone — vaccinated people included — to wear masks indoors again|author=Ting, Eric|website=San Francisco Chronicle|date=15 July 2021 }} She faced criticism for her response, with 233,000 residents testing positive and 5,500 dead by August 2020, with the number of deaths rising up to 24,000 by June 2021.{{cite web|url=https://capitalandmain.com/did-barbara-ferrer-fail-to-protect-los-angeles-most-vulnerable-from-covid-0826|title=Did Barbara Ferrer Fail to Protect L.A.'s Most Vulnerable from COVID?|author=Feingold, Danny; Ross, Dan|date=August 26, 2020|website=Capital & Main}}

In July 2022, Ferrer gave public statements in making the case for a new mask mandate, which she was expected to announce on July 29.{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/25/politics/covid-19-mask-mandates/index.html|title=Some cities are discussing returns to indoor masking. Here's what you need to know.|website=CNN|author=LeBlanc, Paul|date=July 25, 2022}} However several cities in LA County including Beverly Hills announced they would refuse to enforce her new mandate. In addition, the Alliance of Los Angeles County Parents filed a lawsuit against Ferrer and the L.A. Public Health Department, alleging their decisions had been “arbitrary, capricious and entirely lacking in evidentiary support,” and that the rights of children to the equal protection of the law were being violated. {{cite web | url=https://www.dailynews.com/2022/08/14/the-covid-crisis-is-over-and-its-been-over/ | title=The COVID crisis is over, and it's been over | website=Los Angeles Daily News | date=14 August 2022 }} On July 28, she announced there would not be a new mandate, claiming her reversal was due to lowered COVID-19 transmission rates.{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-07-29/how-l-a-county-narrowly-avoided-a-covid-mask-mandate|title=L.A. County narrowly avoided a mask mandate. Can we keep BA.5 in check?|author=Lin, Rong-Gong; Money, Luke; Toohey, Grace|website=Los Angeles Times|date=July 29, 2022}}

Ferrer resides in Los Angeles County. She is married, and has two children and two grandchildren.{{Cite web|title=One-On-One: Get To Know LA County Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer |website=CBS Los Angeles |date=30 June 2020 |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/one-on-one-get-to-know-la-county-public-health-director-dr-barbara-ferrer/ |access-date=June 2, 2022}}

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Category:Boston University School of Public Health alumni

Category:Heller School for Social Policy and Management alumni

Category:University of Massachusetts Boston alumni

Category:University of California, Santa Cruz alumni

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:Living people

Category:American health officials

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