Interim Health Officer of Public Health – Seattle & King County

Dr. Mia Shim

Mia Shim, MD, MPH, is the Interim Health Officer for Public Health – Seattle & King County, an internal medicine physician with an extensive population health experience in both domestic and international settings, and Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington.

Dr. Shim joined Public Health – Seattle & King County in 2017 as the Chief Medical Officer of Community Health Services Division. In this role, Dr. Shim served communities experiencing greatest health disparities and provided leadership, strategic direction, and clinical oversight of Public Health’s primary care, sexual and reproductive health, addiction medicine, and school-based health programs and the Health Care for the Homeless Network of King County.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, in partnership with various government agencies and community partners, Dr. Shim led nation’s first large-scale COVID-19 isolation and quarantine centers, creating a safe and trauma-informed space for King County’s most vulnerable populations to recover from COVID-19 and mitigating impacts to regional health systems. She also oversaw implementation of multifaceted COVID-19 vaccination efforts and homelessness response in King County.

Dr. Shim began her scientific career in basic science research, innovating in gene expression technology. While studying global health in medical school at the University of Washington, she was quickly drawn to a profound need to improve equitable access to quality healthcare in underserved settings. She then pursued Master of Public Health at the University of Washington’s Department of Global Health and clinical research fellowship through the National Institutes of Health (NIH), studying operations research, implementation science, and innovative ways to deliver quality healthcare and strengthen health systems.

While working in underserved areas of sub-Saharan Africa, she experienced power of collaboration with local communities in building trust and advancing health. Having served vulnerable populations most of her professional career, she believes addressing racial inequities, health disparities, and social determinants of health is critical to improving population health.

In addition to working in public health, Dr. Shim speaks on topics of healthcare access and delivery in resource-limited settings, COVID-19 response, opioid epidemic, and telehealth.