Morgan Hill
– Councilwoman Hedy Chang has been appointed by Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger to the state Medical Board.
”
I was surprised but thrilled,
”
Chang, 57, said Thursday night.
”
Medical services are my passion.
”
Morgan Hill – Councilwoman Hedy Chang has been appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to the state Medical Board.
“I was surprised but thrilled,” Chang, 57, said Thursday night. “Medical services are my passion.”
The medical board is composed of 12 physicians and nine members of the public. It licenses medical doctors, midwives, opticians and research psychoanalysts. It investigates complaints against physicians and medical facilities, violations of the law and dispenses discipline. And it performs evaluations and oversees rehabilitation when appropriate, Chang said.
She will be working with the division of licensing which also keeps an eye on programs in medical schools.
Chang and most of her council colleagues have been working to return medical services to Morgan Hill since Saint Louise Hospital closed in 1999, moved to Gilroy and took most of the physicians and services with it. Just recently the old Saint Louise medical office building – newly renamed DePaul Health Center – has begun attracting doctors and medical-related agencies.
“We worked at this a long time,” Chang said.
Chang, a two-term council member who is not seeking a third term, is a Republican who campaigned widely for state Senator Bruce McPherson, R-Santa Cruz, during his unsuccessful campaign for lieutenant governor in the election of November 2002. She acted as a liaison with the Northern California Asian community.
Chang previously served on the Morgan Hill School Board.
She said the appointment is a big deal for her.
“When I came here as an immigrant, I never thought I’d be able to do something like this,” she said. “This is a great country.”
The medical board meets four times a year in Sacramento and comes with a $100 per meeting stipend, normal for California boards and commissions. While Chang has been sworn in, she still must be confirmed by the state Senate.
Chang’s husband, C.P., is a longtime professor of meteorology at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey; the couple have three grown children.
