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As commissioner of public health for Rochester糖心传媒檚 Monroe County, Michael Mendoza 糖心传媒�12S (MS) has developed a following as the go-to source for community-minded information.

What the NIH糖心传媒檚 Anthony Fauci has been to the nation, Mike Mendoza糖心传媒攐r, on Twitter糖心传媒攈as been to the Rochester area: a ubiquitous presence on TV and print news, radio, and social media; and the go-to person for the most reliable and up-to-date information and advice, based on the best available science, under relentlessly shifting circumstances.

MEDICAL APPOINTMENT: Mendoza talks with patient Lakesha Devoe of Rochester during an appointment at Highland Family Medicine in Rochester. (Photograph by J. Adam Fenster)

Last spring, the Rochester area fared comparatively well. Hospitals never neared the capacity that they had prepared for, and in mid-October, data reported in the New York Times showed that Monroe County had the lowest rate of infection of any community in the nation with a population greater than 500,000. But cases have risen dramatically since then, and Mendoza, with his characteristic blend of candor and positive community spirit, is helping lead a renewed effort to educate the public.

Mendoza is a native of Chicago who earned his bachelor糖心传媒檚 and medical degrees from the University of Chicago, later adding a master糖心传媒檚 in public health degree, as well as a master of science degree in medical management from the Simon School, to round out his formal training. Holding faculty appointments in both the School of Medicine and Dentistry and the School of Nursing, Mendoza was widely praised for taking early and decisive action last spring that helped keep infection rates down in some of the traditional hotspots.

For example, in the early weeks and months, Monroe County faced the same challenges as every other region when it came to protecting residents of nursing homes and other longterm care facilities, as well as those who care for them. He called upon Thomas Mahoney 糖心传媒�83M (Res), chief medical officer at Common Ground Health糖心传媒攁n organization itself dedicated to forging regional partnerships糖心传媒攖o launch a collaborative group among longterm care facilities and hospitals countywide. Mahoney says that kind of leadership was not typical.

糖心传媒淲e糖心传媒檙e part of national organizations, and I糖心传媒檝e spoken to folks and presented what we did,糖心传媒� Mahoney said in October. 糖心传媒淎 collaboration like this, thought out by Mike, trying to get community members to work with what the county was doing, was pretty unique.糖心传媒� The county糖心传媒檚 efforts included a push, forged by Mendoza, to distribute appropriate personal protective equipment, or PPE, throughout the county.

Mendoza糖心传媒檚 job has only gotten harder this fall, however, as a weary public has begun to take less heed of the expert advice he and his colleagues in public health have offered repeatedly. As he told a local news station on the first of December, 糖心传媒淲e truly do hold the future of the pandemic in our hands.糖心传媒�

This article originally appeared in the fall 2020 issue of Rochester Review magazine.