SHASTA COUNTY, Calif. — Shasta County’s Board of Supervisors officially appointed Redding family physician, James Mu, to their open health officer position on Tuesday evening. It was a 3-2 decision, with Supervisors Mary Rickert and Tim Garman voting against. In response, Dr. Mu told the two supervisors he would work to earn their trust.
“My goal is to serve the county,” Mu said during the board meeting. “For those who are skeptical of me, I will value your contribution and I will value your constructive criticism as well.” Mu later added that he will work to increase trust in public health, while being “as least intrusive as possible.”
KRCR reached out to Dr. Mu’s office for further comment on Wednesday. We were told he was focused on his patients and the quick transition he will make into his new role, which he will assume on Oct. 23. Instead, KRCR spoke with other established medical professionals in the community about Dr. Mu, and the feedback was mixed.
“I have known him since he was a resident here,” explained Dr. Nena Perry, a geriatrician with Mercy Family Health Center. “So I can say that he was very well taught… (but) I think he has had some issues. The COVID piece makes it very difficult regarding a public health perspective, because he was very anti-COVID vaccine.”
Perry called Mu a “bright man” with an established presence within Shasta County. She says he has the potential to excel in his new role, but his qualifications– or lack thereof– presents concern.
“Quite honestly, he has no public health background,” said Perry. “Neither does he have an MPH or two years of experience. And he currently is not board certified.”
“I think he just needs to… take himself and his personal perspective out and look at what’s good for the community as a whole,” Perry told KRCR’s Sam Chimenti. Others in the local medical community have resonated Perry’s thoughts with KRCR, specifically regarding Mu’s inexperience in public health and his anti-mandate beliefs.
On the other side, Dr. Piyush K. Dhanuka of Redding spoke in support of his colleague during Tuesday’s supervisor meeting.
“To clarify physicians are extensively and deeply trained in epidemiology training and public health during their four years of medical school and three years of residency, which Dr Mu successfully completed, including family practice residency,” Dhanuka expressed to the county board ahead of Mu’s appointment. “And family practice residents are smarter than any specialists, I can tell you that.”
Another long-time local family doctor, Richard Malotky, also gave Mu a vote of confidence.
“I think he’s a great choice for public health,” Malotky told KRCR over the phone. Dr. Malotky started his practice in Redding around the same time as Dr. Mu and called him an “excellent family doctor” who is “very smart, very ethical.”
The process of selecting Dr. Mu will likely be discussed publicly by the board in the future. Supervisor Mary Rickert motioned for the original vote of the selection committee to be shared, which was seconded by Supervisor Crye.
“We had a panel that interviewed (candidates) for this position. Are we allowed to talk about what the vote of that panel was in public?” Rickert asked the county’s council/CEO.
KRCR was told from multiple sources with knowledge of the hiring process that an overwhelming majority of the committee wanted a different, outside-of-the-area doctor to take the county health officer position in place of Doctor Mu.
We will look into what changed, and why, and share that information when we learn more.