Dr. Duber appointed to WA State DOH Regional Medical Officer for NW WA
Dr. Herbie Duber has been appointed to the position of Washington State Department of Health (DOH) Regional Medical Officer for Northwest WA. This is a new position intended to coordinate public health efforts, implement agency priorities, and support health in general across the state. There will be four regional offices, of which the Northwest Waterway region (Region 4) includes the counties of Clallam, Jefferson, Mason, Grays Harbor, Pierce, King, Snohomish, Kitsap, Skagit, Island, San Juan, and Whatcom.
In his role as Regional Medical Officer, Dr. Duber will partner with local health and Tribal leaders to guide and support key science, health, and medical needs across the regions and state. He will provide public health recommendations to promote the health, safety, and well-being of the citizens of Washington State. Dr. Duber brings great expertise and knowledge of population health and epidemiology, as well as his clinical expertise and understanding of healthcare systems to this critical role.
Washington State and its citizens are very fortunate to have Dr. Duber with such breadth and depth of expertise and experience joining this DOH team. Dr. Duber received his medical degree and an MPH focused on International Health in 2005 from New York University School of Medicine and Harvard University School of Public Health respectively. He then completed emergency medicine residency training at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, after which he completed an International Health Research Fellowship through the RAND corporation and UCLA-Harbor Medical Center in 2009.
Dr. Duber joined the UW Department of Emergency Medicine as faculty in 2011 and since then has contributed greatly across all aspects of our mission both within the UW DEM and across UW Medicine. He serves as Head of the UW DEM Section of Population Health and holds Adjunct and Affiliated appointments within the UW Department of Global Health, The Department of Health Metrics, and the Center for Health Innovation and Policy Science. He is a tireless advocate for our most vulnerable patients, leading such efforts as the implementation of our HIV, Hep C, and Hep A screening processes, implementation of our influenza and COVID ED vaccination processes, leading the way throughout the institution related to screening for Social Determinants of Health, and implementation of VotER at HMC. Dr. Duber has also been instrumental in promoting best practices in the ED for the care of patients with Opiate Use Disorder (OUD) across the state and region, including education around buprenorphine induction. He also currently serves as co-Lead and co-Chair of the Service Learning Advisory Committee for the UW SoM, as well as a member of the UW Medicine Population Health Leadership Committee.
Dr. Duber will remain in his role as Section Head of Population Health within the Department of Emergency Medicine, continuing to grow and advance the Section and all of its programs, and will continue to work clinically within the emergency department.
