That year summer

Jonathan Fielding, the public's MD gift and premium

If you've got your health, the cliche goes, you've got just about everything. If you've got public health duties, you're responsible for just about everything from mosquitoes (West Nile carriers) to hygiene (wash your hands for as long as it takes to sing "Happy Birthday" twice). Dr. Jonathan Fielding heads L.A. County's Department of Public Health, which is bigger than some states' health departments. A pediatrician by training and the head of the county's health programs since 1998, Fielding is such a believer that he and his wife, Karin, turned savvy investments into a $50-million gift last year to UCLA's School of Public Health. Here he takes the temperature of the medical and political aspects of his work.

To the public, "public health" may sound outdated. Do we still need the department?

Clean water, pure foods, safe and effective drugs,gift premium fair gmd685fes substandard housing, occupational safety — those are public health triumphs from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but we're now finding them in other forms. Water — whether it's drought or fracking or what's seeping into the aquifers. We've never had a time of more food recalls. What toxins don't we know about? People are not aware [of the risks]. It's a core public health responsibility, to let people know what we know and what we don't know.

Maybe "public health" needs a new name?

People say to me, "Oh, you must be providing a lot of indigent care." We are, but it's not the only thing we do. Maybe it could be [called] the health protector department?

C. Everett Koop was our best known U.S. surgeon general. He was high gift and premium profile to say the least — he even wore the uniform.

Maybe a uniform would be helpful! Chick Koop was amazing. He was a truth-teller at a time when ideology was trumping common sense and knowledge.

What are L.A. public health achievements?

In the county, we're down to 13.1% of adults who smoke. The incredible progress in cardiovascular disease, stroke, lung cancer — a 60% decline in cardiovascular disease, a 40-plus percent difference in stroke. 2006 is the first time we got beyond 80 years life expectancy in L.A. [With restaurant grading], we've shown a 13% reduction in hospitalization for food-borne [related] illness compared to surrounding counties. We inspect multi-unit housing. We're the first public health agency in the country to have an agreement with the FBI; we have [public health] people at the Joint Regional Intelligence Center here. We're a national model for preparations for terrorism.