Philly Leader

The City of Philadelphia has announced the hiring of a new deputy commissioner of the Department of Public Health, a position that was vacant since the resignation of Dr. Caroline Johnson in January 2021.

The Philadelphia Department of Public Health hired Frank A. Franklin, Ph.D., JD, MPH; as deputy commissioner in September 2021, a recent news release on the City's website said. 

Health Commissioner Dr. Cheryl Bettigole called Franklin an "exceptional asset to the Health Department."

"During one of the most difficult times in the history of the Health Department, Dr. Franklin has made sure that critical public health activities have continued, while simultaneously kicking off exciting new efforts to help deepen and expand the department's activities," she said in the release.

Franklin has a vast background in injury epidemiology, forensic epidemiology, health policy and the law; a bio on the Pennsylvania Department of Health website said.

He received his doctoral training at Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, the bio said. He received a master's degree in public health and had post-doctoral training in health policy from the Morehouse School of Medicine. He has a Juris Doctor degree from the Kline School of Law at Drexel University and is also a member of the National Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Center for Injury Control and Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Franklin's role before becoming deputy commissioner of the Health Department was the Multnomah County Health Department's director of epidemiology, analytics and evaluation. He was also the director of treatment and prevention services there, where he worked with an integrated substance-use treatment and care agency. 

"I cannot begin to express my excitement at the opportunity to give back to the city that raised me," Franklin said in the release. "I look forward to strengthening the Health Department's capacity to not only fulfill the existing core functions of the department, but also starting to take advantage of expertise spread throughout the department so that we can better serve the public."