CHICO — As professional journeys go, Butte County’s public health officer took the long way here. How he’s listed on department letterhead — Dr. David Canton, DO, MPH, JD, Health Officer — gives a glimpse, but his path is more extensive than his string of titles.
Canton Yes, Canton is a physician with a law degree and a master’s in public health. He’s also an Army veteran who served 13 years as a senior medical officer for the U.S.
Coast Guard and 15 with the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.
He’s also worked as chief medical officer for the National Disaster Medical System and the Shasta Community Health Center; medical director for the Stanislaus County Medical Reserve Corps; vice president of medical affairs at Emanuel Medical Center in Turlock; public health officer for Merced County, and primary-care chair at California Health Sciences University. He was heading into retirement in 2021 when he got a call about the public health officer position in Butte County. Canton succeeded Dr.
Bob Bernstein on an interim basis at first, then took the job on a regular basis. (Apropos of the pandemic era, he primarily telecommuted.) He’s back to interim status as the Public Health Department recruits a successor for him.
Local residents have heard about him, most recently for a series of public health emergencies he’s declared during this summer of wildfires. Rarely, though, have they heard him. Canton hasn’t cut as prominent a profile as Bernstein o.