Arthur Chen

Dr. Arthur Chen is currently a Senior Fellow at Asian Health Services (an FQHC/community health center) in Oakland, California, where since 1983 he continues practicing both inpatient and outpatient medicine as a family physician and where he previously served as Medical Director and Special Programs Director (1984–1995). Since 2011 he serves as an advisor (and served as a professional coach from 2011–2021) for the National Leadership Academy for the Public’s Health, a CDC supported leadership development program for our emerging public health leaders, run from the Center for Health Leadership and Practice of the Public Health Institute.

In 2018–2019 he served a similar role for the California Opioid Safety Network that is addressing the statewide opioid crisis. He also currently serves as Clinical Advisor, and in 2017, served as the Chief Medical and Population Health Officer for Applied Research Works, a Health IT software company developing tools for case management, risk adjustment, and improving quality of care performance among physician offices, medical groups and health plans. He sits on the Board of Directors for Blue Shield of CA, the National Council of API Physicians (NCAPIP) and the California Physicians Alliance (CaPA) an organization dedicated to universal health coverage and access for all Californians. CaPA recently published their Road Map to Golden State Care.

From 2011–2021 he sat on the Alameda County Oversight Committee for Measure A, which disperses $130+M annually for health services for low income residents. From 2001-2009 he served as the Chief Medical Officer and Medical Director of the Alameda Alliance for Health, a Medicaid Managed Care non-profit public entity serving low-income residents of Alameda County. From 1996-2001 he was the Public Health Officer for Alameda County. Prior to that, he served as an emergency room physician and the Associate Medical Director of the Institute of Emergency Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY. He was also the Executive Director of the Chinatown Health Clinic (Charles B. Wang Health Center) in New York City. In 2015-16 he served on the Health Advisory Board for Intelligent Insites, an operational intelligence company for health delivery systems.

From July 2011 to July 2016, he was an Obama Administration appointee to the Advisory Committee on Minority Health, a national committee established to advise on health equity initiatives undertaken by the DHHS and the Office of Minority Health. He chaired (1998-2006) the Board of Directors of the Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum, a national policy and advocacy organization whose mission is to improve the health status of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. From 2012–2017 he served on the Board of Applied Research Works, a health IT software company. From 2001–2003 he was appointed to the Task Force on Culturally and Linguistically Competent Physicians and Dentists for the CA Dept of Consumer Affairs. Between 1997–2001 he served on the National Association of County and City Health Officials MAPP (Mobilization for Action through Planning and Partnerships) planning committee (formerly APEXCPH: Assessment and Planning Excellence through Community Partners for Health. From 1997–2001 he served as a Board Member and later an Executive Committee member of the California Conference of Local Health Officers. He also served on the Board (2003–2012 and as Chairperson, 2006–2008) of The California Endowment, a health foundation focused on improving health status and access to care for California’s medically underserved population. From 1999–2001 and 2004 to 2017, he served as an Executive Council member of the Alameda Contra Costa County Medical Association and as president in 2016. In 1999 he served on the CDC/ATSDR Task Force on Public Health Workforce Development.

Dr. Chen was the recipient of the 2008 California Medical Association Foundation’s Robert D. Sparks, MD Leadership Award. He was selected as a fellow to the 1996–1997 Public Health Leadership Institute sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and the University of California. During l989–l992 he was a member of the Kellogg National Fellowship Program.

He has also served on advisory and planning committees to the Bureau of Primary Health Care of the U.S. Public Health Service, the Office of Minority Health, the National Institutes of Health and the American Lung Association. He has also testified before Congress and President Clinton’s Health Task Force.