This year, public health faced unprecedented obstacles, among them federal funding cuts, threats to food aid programs including SNAP and WIC, and official mistrust in vaccine science leading to restricted access. With state and local agencies left to fill the leadership vacuum, the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH), helmed by Pittsburgher Dr. Debra Bogen, charted a new course.

In what Bogen calls a “particularly proud achievement,” DOH worked with Gov. Josh Shapiro to join the Northeast Public Health Collaborative, a voluntary multi-state coalition of public health agencies, in September. This move, along with issuing new vaccine guidance to counter “mixed signals” coming from the federal level, Bogen says, protected Pennsylvanians’ access to “lifesaving, commonsense vaccines,” and ushered in a new phase of public health departments working together.

Despite murky federal policy, “I remain hopeful because I know the Shapiro administration and the team at [DOH] are deeply committed to doing everything we can to ensure a healthy Pennsylvania for all,” Bogen tells Pittsburgh City Paper.

Before joining DOH three years ago, Bogen directed the Allegheny County Health Department — taking the reins in March 2020 just as the COVID-19 pandemic took shape — and worked as a pediatrician, professor, and clinical researcher in Pittsburgh for more than 20 years.

“I would not be the public health leader I am today without the invaluable time I spent as a pediatrician and researcher in the Pittsburgh area,” she says. “Every day, patients and their families shared their life stories, their struggles, and their successes.”

Bogen’s previous work focused on children and families impacted by social inequities, with clinical research exploring the impact that substance use and other mental health conditions have on families. That experience translated to her work at DOH expanding behavioral health treatments and access to naloxone, a lifesaving drug that can reverse opioid overdose.

With Bogen’s guidance, DOH brought many firsts to the state this year: the first-ever grants for menstrual supplies in schools, expansion of a first-of-its-kind law that cuts the cost of preventive breast and ovarian cancer screenings, and a landmark inaugural Pa. Black Maternal Health Week Summit.

“As a clinician and researcher, and now a public health official, I continue to be saddened and frustrated that mothers and infants in the U.S. die at significantly higher rates than in other comparable countries,” Bogen says, citing mortality rates that are significantly higher for Black and brown mothers and infants.

“Addressing these rates and disparities remains an important focus of my work,” Bogen says. “This aligns with Governor Shapiro’s priorities, and I suspect my commitment to this work was at least one reason I was asked to serve in this role.”

Though public health is commonly associated with vaccines, it’s “important for Pennsylvanians to understand the breadth of the work of public health and how it impacts their lives,” Bogen says. “Much of the work is done quietly — behind the scenes.”

DOH is currently working to curb infectious diseases including measles, which hasn’t spread widely in Pennsylvania despite recent scares.

During her tenure, Bogen also established the Long-Term Care Transformation Office, which distributed $14.2 million to improve the quality of the state’s long-term care facilities. For Bogen, the smaller-scale initiative demonstrated that “pilot grants can produce significant returns.”

Though she admits to missing Frick Park, after three years in state government, “it is a great honor to serve as Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Health,” Bogen says. “I could not ask for a more rewarding role.”