Lin Receives Appointment to National Health Post

Calling it his “dream job,” former San Marino mayor and longtime resident Dr. Matthew Lin confirmed yesterday his appointment as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health and Director of the Office of Minority Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The Office of Minority Health is dedicated to improving the health of racial and ethnic minority populations through the development of health policies and programs that will help eliminate health disparities, provide access to quality care and advance health equity.
Lin and his wife, Joy, have relocated to Washington since his appointment.
“I have been so blessed to live in this country,” said Lin. “I am just happy to have this opportunity to give back.”
An orthopedic surgeon, Lin has spent most of his professional career serving a primarily minority population in the San Gabriel Valley. He served as a member of the board of directors at Alhambra Hospital and Garfield Medical Center. For the past two decades, Lin has also been involved in medical relief efforts for natural disasters worldwide, including the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the 2005 tsunami in Sri Lanka and Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005.
Lin received his medical degree from Taipei Medical University. He arrived in the U.S. from Taipei in the early 1970s, completing residencies in Baltimore at Medstar Union Memorial Hospital and Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he specialized in hand and orthopedic surgery. He has also served on the faculties of the University of Southern California, Western University of Health Sciences and the California State Northridge University College of Medicine.
A two-term city councilman and 3-time mayor of San Marino, Lin has received several prestigious awards, including the Los Angeles County Medical Association’s Leadership Award for Public Service and the California Hospital Association’s Leadership in Governance Award.
Recently, Lin and his wife donated $200,000 for the refurbishing of the rose arbor in Lacy Park in honor of Lin’s parents, who spent their later years in the park.