Gail Newel, MD, MPH, FACOG is an obstetrician-gynecologist and public health physician with a drive for justice and equity in healthcare. She has served as a frontline clinician, an educator of future physicians, a public health official, policymaker, and women’s health advocate.
Dr. Newel grew up hearing about the health challenges for the people of California’s Central Valley, where she was raised. She worked in her father’s pediatric practice during every summer of her teen years, accompanying him on daily rounds of his newborns and hospitalized patients. Her mother modeled leadership through service in the community. They raised Dr. Newel in the Mennonite Church, where she developed a strong sense of social justice and servant leadership from an early age.
Dr. Newel attended the University of California, Berkeley for undergraduate work and the University of California, Irvine for medical school before returning home to UCSF Fresno’s Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Program. Her strong interest in public health led her back to UC Berkeley for her Master of Public Health degree, with an emphasis in maternal child health.
Dr. Newel worked for over 30 years as a direct healthcare provider in private practice, managed care settings, and as clinical faculty in the UCSF Fresno residency program, delivering over 10,000 babies. Throughout that time, she maintained a faculty status with the UCSF training program, where she continues research as a co-investigator with the Preterm Birth Initiative. She served as Fresno County’s first maternal child adolescent health medical director at the Department of Public Health, then as health officer for San Benito County. She began working in her current role with Santa Cruz County in July 2019.
Dr. Newel has been active in policy and advocacy work at the regional, state, and national level, with a special focus on underserved populations of women. Her areas of special interest include public policy and advocacy for health equity, family health, opioid use disorder, reproductive rights, breastfeeding, and LGBTQ healthcare. She has also used her public health expertise internationally, most recently in Africa, serving with a community-based organization in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.