Rockland County Health Commissioner: What's Needed to Protect and Improve Public Health

Patricia Schnabel Ruppert, DO, MPH, DABFM, FAAFP is the Health Commissioner of Rockland County, an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center and a Distinguished Lecturer in Epidemiology and Community Medicine, New York Medical College, in addition to being a Fellows Ambassador at the New York Academy of Medicine. She is an expert in a broad range of public health subjects, writing recently on flu prevention, pandemic prevention and helping parents keep kids healthy. During the 2016 election season, Dr. Ruppert advises not only our 2016 presidential candidates, but policy makers, to be aware of the need to address existing issues to protect the public’s health in times of emerging infections. Dr. Ruppert is also Commissioner of Hospitals of Rockland County, New York. She serves on the Board of Directors of the NYS Public Health Association, the Alumni Board of Directors of the Mailman School of Public Health of Columbia University, on the Board of Directors and as Medical Director of the Jan and Niles Davies Learning Center, and on the Professional Advisory Boards of Dominican College and the Rockland County Licensed Home Care Services Agency. Previously, Dr. Ruppert served as the President of the Medical Staff and Medical Director of Employee Health Services at Helen Hayes Hospital, under the New York State Department of Health. She is a Fellow in the American Academy of Family Physicians and maintains her Diplomate status in the American Board of Family Medicine. She received her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from NYIT/NYCOM and her MPH in Health Policy and Management from the Mailman School of Public Health of Columbia University. Dr. Ruppert is a Certified Physician Executive candidate (November 2016).