Mehul Dalal.
Mayor-Elect Justin Elicker continued rounding out his leadership team by tapping a public-health doctor to serve as community services administrator (CSA).
Elicker announced the choice of Connecticut Department of Health Chronic Disease Director Dr. Mehul Dalal in a press release issued Monday afternoon.
The CSA is one of city government’s top coordinators, responsible for overseeing social services departments as well as the health department.
The health department has in particular been the focus of controversy in recent years, from its mishandling of lead paint enforcement cases to the release of over 500 people’s private health information. Dalal has served as the state health department’s chronic disease director and a New York City health official, among many other posts. He lives in New Haven and has practiced internal medicine at the Fair Haven Community Health Center (now called Fair Haven Community Health Care).
His appointment requires a confirmation vote by the Board of Alders.
Click on the video above to watch Dulal testify before Congress in 2017 to seek more funding to tackle chronic diseases.
The current CSA is Dakibu Muley.
Unlike department heads, coordinators have terms coterminus with that of the mayor, meaning Elicker gets to choose his own people for those top slots. He has already announced his choice for another coordinator position, Scott Jackson (as his chief adminsitrative officer), as well as his pick for top city attorney, Patricia King.
Following is the text of the release on Dalal from the Elicker Transition Team:
Today, New Haven Mayor-Elect, Justin Elicker, announced former Connecticut Department of Health Chronic Disease Director Dr. Mehul Dalal, MD, MSc, MHS for his appointment to the Community Services Administrator.
“It is an honor to be asked to serve as the Community Services Administrator for the City of New Haven,” said Dr. Dalal. “I look forward to serving in Mayor Elicker’s administration and contributing to a vision where everybody in New Haven has a chance to thrive. We have a great opportunity to think big, think creatively, and work across sectors to make a positive impact,” concluded Dr. Dalal.
Dr. Mehul Dalal, MD, MSc, MHS served as the Chronic Disease Director at the Connecticut Department of Health (2012 – 2019) providing strategic vision, expertise and management skills to his team to improve the lives of Connecticut residents. Dr. Dalal also served as the Medical Director of Quality Improvement from New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Cardiovascular Disease Program (2009 – 2011). He has served on over a dozen boards and committees focused on public health including: the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, the Connecticut State Health Improvement Advisory Council, and the Connecticut Cancer Partnership. Last year, Dr. Dalal founded Health Design Strategies, LLC here in New Haven to focus on helping health organizations design and implement strategies to broadly improve health. Dr. Dalal has further served the New Haven community by practicing internal medicine at the Fair Haven Community Health Center (2011 – 2012).
“Dr. Dalal’s life-service toward improving the well-being of others is admirable,” stated the Mayor-Elect. “His experience managing large teams, implementing strategic plans and working across the State in the public health field make him more than an exemplary candidate as the City’s Community Services Administrator.” he concluded.
Dr. Dalal’s full-biography below:
Mehul Dalal, MD, MSc, MHS is an experienced public sector leader with a background in public health administration, clinical care, non-profit governance, and entrepreneurship.
From 2012 – 2019, Dr. Dalal served as the Chronic Disease Director at the Connecticut Department of Public Health where he provided strategic vision, leadership and administrative oversight for the Department’s Chronic Disease Unit guiding teams to strategically and responsibly manage millions in state and federal resources for the benefit of at-risk populations in Connecticut. Dr. Dalal was also designated to help guide public health aspects of the State’s health care reform initiatives under the Affordable Care Act.
He was previously the Medical Director of Quality Improvement at the New York City Department of Health’s Cardiovascular Program, working with primary care providers to promote best practices in the prevention of heart disease and stroke.
Dr. Dalal has led or served on numerous stakeholder groups including serving as the Board President of the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, Co-chair of the State Innovation Model Quality Metrics Council, Vice Chair of the Connecticut Cancer Partnership and as a member of the Donaghue Foundation Policy Advisory Committee.
Dr. Dalal’s most recent work includes public health consulting with clients that include the World Health Organization in Geneva and Resolve to Save Lives, a large global non-profit based in New York.
Dr. Dalal has practiced primary care at Bellevue Hospital in New York City and at Fair Haven Community Health Care in New Haven. He has contributed to peer reviewed publications that appear in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Journal of Clinical Hypertension and the Journal of Primary Care and Community Health. Dr. Dalal received an undergraduate degree in Neuroscience at Brown University and a Doctor of Medicine from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. He completed an internal medicine residency at New York University and is a graduate of the Yale Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program.
He resides in New Haven with his family.
Dr. Dalal’s appointment will await approval from the thirty-member New Haven Board of Alders. Mayor-Elect Justin Elicker takes office on January 1, 2020.