SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments:
Kristina Daniel Lawson, 38, of Walnut Creek, has been appointed to the Medical Board of California. Lawson has been a partner at Manatt, Phelps and Phillips LLP since 2011. She was an associate and shareholder at Miller, Starr, Regalia from 2003 to 2011 and an associate at Meyers Nave from 2001 to 2003. Lawson was a member of the Walnut Creek City Council from 2010 to 2014, serving as mayor of the city in 2014. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Santa Clara University School of Law. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Lawson is a Democrat.
Stephanie Welch, 40, of Sacramento, has been appointed executive officer of the Council on Mentally Ill Offenders. Welch has been a senior program manager at the California Mental Health Services Authority since 2011. She was associate policy director at the California Mental Health Directors Association from 2007 to 2011, a consultant at the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health from 2005 to 2007 and associate director and research assistant at the California Council of Community Mental Health Agencies from 2000 to 2005. She earned a Master of Social Welfare degree from the University of Southern California. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $123,120. Welch is a Democrat.
Javier Esquivel-Acosta, 39, of Union City, has been appointed to the California Physician Assistant Board. Esquivel-Acosta has served in several positions at the Foothill Community Health Center since 2011, including director of the Health Education and Nutrition Department and the Innovation Department, associate medical director and clinic supervisor. He was a physician assistant and certified aesthetic consultant at Med Spa from 2011 to 2013 and a bilingual case manager at La Familia Counseling Services from 2007 to 2009. He was a physician in private practice in Zacatecas, Mexico from 2005 to 2007, a health educator at Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center Inc. from 2003 to 2004 and chief of emergency care services at the Hospital General De Jerez in Zacatecas, Mexico from 2001 to 2003, where he was chief of outside consultation from 2000 to 2003. Esquivel-Acosta earned a Foreign Medical degree from the Autonomous University of Zacatecas School of Medicine, a Master of Science degree in medical science from Saint Francis University and a Physician Assistant degree from the Stanford University School of Medicine. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Esquivel-Acosta is registered without party preference.
Trande Phillips, 66, of Walnut Creek, has been reappointed to the California Board of Registered Nursing, where she has served since 2012. Phillips has been a registered nurse at the RotaCare Richmond Free Medical Clinic since 2015. She was a registered nurse at the Kaiser Permanente Walnut Creek Medical Center in the pediatric-flex, medical, surgical, hospice and oncology units from 1983 to 2014. Phillips was a registered nurse at the Contra Costa Regional Medical Center from 1979 to 1981 and at the Wichita General Hospital from 1971 to 1972. The position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Phillips is a Democrat.
Pilar De La Cruz-Reyes, 68, of Sanger, has been appointed to the California Board of Registered Nursing. De La Cruz-Reyes has been director of the Central California Center for Excellence in Nursing at Fresno State since 2013. She was dean at the United States University in Chula Vista School of Nursing from 2011 to 2013, a project manager at the Hospital Council of Northern and Central California from 2007 to 2011, a faculty member at San Joaquin Valley College from 2003 to 2007 and a staff nurse to the chief nurse executive at the Fresno Community Medical Center from 2002 to 2006. She was chief nurse executive at the Fresno Heart Hospital from 2003 to 2006, held several positions at the Community Medical Centers from 1996 to 2003, including vice president and executive director of the Education Department, vice president of continuum services and facility service integrator. De La Cruz-Reyes was administrative director and service integrator at the Clovis Community Hospital from 1992 to 1995 and held several positions at the Fresno Community Hospital from 1969 to 1992, including director of nurses, nursing manager, supervisor of the Education and Training Department and critical care and clinical instructor. De La Cruz-Reyes earned a Master of Science degree in nursing from California State University, Dominguez Hills. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. De La Cruz-Reyes is a Democrat.
Elizabeth Jensen-Blumberg, 36, of San Francisco, has been appointed to the Osteopathic Medical Board of California. Jensen-Blumberg has been a hospitalist at St. Mary’s Medical Center since 2008 and a physician and internal medicine hospitalist at Bay Area Hospitalist Associates since 2005. She is a member of the Society of Hospital Medicine and the American Osteopathic Association. She earned a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine in California. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Jensen-Blumberg is a Democrat.
Cyrus Fram Buhari, 41, of Stockton, has been appointed to the Osteopathic Medical Board of California. Buhari has been a physician at the San Joaquin Cardiology Medical Group since 2013. Buhari was an assistant clinical professor of medicine and physician at the Central California Faculty Medical Group from 2012 to 2013 and a physician at the Veterans Affairs Central California Healthcare System from 2012 to 2013 and at the Community Hospitalist Medical Group from 2008 to 2012. Buhari earned a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from the Western University of Health Sciences. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Buhari is registered without party preference.
Sandra Klein, 58, of Irvine, has been appointed to the Dental Hygiene Committee of California. Klein has been executive director at Congregation B’nai Israel since 2001. She was executive director at YMCA of Orange County from 1997 to 2001, manager provider for Support Services at Initiatives for Children from 1994 to 1995 and director of the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center of Houston’s Family Parenting Center from 1986 to 1994. Klein was a management analyst at the U.S. Veterans Administration from 1983 to 1986 and a senior budget analyst at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from 1980 to 1983. She earned Master of Public Administration and Master of Social Welfare degrees in public administration from Syracuse University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Klein is a Democrat.