San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has tapped Joe Biden’s former Medicaid Director Daniel Tsai to head public health. Tsai is replacing former Public Health Director Grant Colfax, who stepped down on February 7 after six years on the job.
Before joining the Biden administration, Tsai served as Medicaid Director for the State of Massachusetts. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in applied mathematics and economics from Harvard University.
“I am excited and honored to be joining the Lurie administration and team at the Department of Public Health," said Tsai, who received unanimous support from the San Francisco Health Commission on Monday. "San Francisco’s healthcare system is storied and has some of the best facilities and people in the nation.”
Tsai will oversee a department with an annual budget of roughly $3 billion. Unlike his predecessor, he is not a medical doctor. But his experience with Medicaid could prove highly useful as Republicans on Capitol Hill eye the program for potential spending cuts.
Substance use and homelessness remain a priority for the Lurie administration, and those issues will demand a significant share of Tsai’s attention. In one of his first acts as mayor, Lurie introduced an emergency ordinance giving his administration “unprecedented” powers to address the crisis. The legislation — which Lurie says will add new shelter beds, a 24-hour crisis center, and new public health and safety professionals — was just passed by the Board of Supervisors.
Tsai is the second major department head appointed by Lurie. Last month, he picked former San Francisco Battalion Chief Dean Crispen to lead the fire department.