Dr. John Zweifler
 

John Zweifler, MD, MPH

John Zweifler, MD, MPH is a board-certified family physician with more than 30 years of experience in medical leadership and education, as well as clinical practice caring for rural and underserved populations. He is currently a Medical Consultant with the Fresno County Health Department where he assists in implementing practical policies that advance population health approaches to improving the health of communities and reducing health disparities by systematically addressing social drivers of health (SDOH).

Dr Zweifler has volunteered for decades with the Fresno San Joaquin Free Medical Clinic and Needle Exchange, where he continues to serve. He has successfully applied for grants that fund his current work providing low barrier access to medication assisted treatment for individuals with substance use disorders that incorporates telehealth and team-based approaches utilizing community health workers to address SDOH.

Dr Zweifler’s background includes a number of leadership roles in medical education and clinical management. He was formerly the Designated Institution Official and Medical Director for Clinical Integration and Graduate Medical Education for Adventist Health Hanford, and prior to that was Chief of UCSF-Fresno's Family and Community Medicine Department and Director of it’s residency program, where he continues to precept residents and students in ambulatory settings.  

Dr Zweifler has a long standing interest and expertise in health care delivery and policy. He has been a medical director for multiple organizations in varying settings including Central Valley Medical Providers, an IPA in Fresno County where he championed value-based approaches that improved quality and reduced cost by emphasizing team-based approaches and digital solutions that increased access for patients, supported transitions of care and promoted patient and provider satisfaction, as well as Regional Medical Director for Adventist Health Plan in Kings County, where he guided reductions in admissions of 5-10% per year and readmissions 10-20% year, while going from "worst to first" in HEDIS quality scores amongst Healthnet MediCal managed care plans in California. He also served as Chief Medical Officer for Adventist Health Community Care and its  40 rural health clinics and more than 600,000 annual patient visits in Fresno, Kern, and Tulare Counties, Deputy Medical Executive for the California Department of Corrections, and medical director for several community health centers in Michigan and California.

 
 

Purchase one of Dr. Zweifler's books today!

 
 
 
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RECENT PRESENTATIONS

Dr. Zweifler speaks on a range of topics reflecting his expertise and experience in addressing social determinants, health care policy, value-based care, primary care, and public health. Below are upcoming and recent presentations and publications.  

Panelist: Summits on Harm Reduction in SUD Treatment. Low-Threshold Patient Admission, Discharge and Retention Policies in SUD Treatment. California Dept of Health Care Services. Fresno, Ca. January 23, 2025

Presenter: RISE 10th Annual Medicaid Managed Care Leadership Summit Value-Based Care in Medicaid: Charting the Future of Managed Care Innovations. April 3, 2025 https://mmc.risehealth.org/agenda/

Presenter -2024 Value-Based Healthcare Congress.  Value-Based Care: The Future of Healthcare Delivery. Scottsdale, AZ. Sept. 17, 2024

Panelist - Opioid Through a Population Health Lens. Opioids with a Public Lens Conference. Health Officers Association of California. Riverside, CA. Sept. 27, 2024

Presenter - Pediatric and Adolescent Health Disparities. 2024 Health Disparities Summit, Community Medical Centers and UCSF-Fresno. March 22, 2024

Presenter - Prevention, Testing, and Treatment for RSV and SARS-CoV-2 Infections. Fresno Chapter of the California Association for Medical Laboratory Technology annual weekend seminar series. March 17, 2023.

Presenter - Telehealth Low Barrier Medication Assisted Treatment. Low Barrier Opioid Treatment at Syringe Services Program, Virtual Grantee Convening. The Center, Sierra Health Foundation. Nov 6, 2023

Presenter - Fentanyl, Opioids, and Substance Use Disorders. Quarterly Meeting of Fresno County Librarians. October 31, 2023

Presenter - Enhanced Standard Precautions in Skilled Nursing Facilities. Skilled Nursing Facility Infection Prevention Two Day Course. Tulare County Health and Human Services Agency in partnership with the California Dept of Public Health. Visalia, Ca. October 24, 2023

Presenter - A Young Child with Rash and his Pregnant Mother. UCSF Pediatric Infectious Diseases Wednesday Morning Weekly Division Conference. Rongkavilit C, Zweifler J. Sept 6, 2023

Panelist - Addiction Medicine Updates. Expert Panel #1. Clovis, Ca. August 26, 2023

Presenter - Fresno County Measles Update. Central Valley Emerging Issues in Public Health Consortium.August 8, 2023

 
 

COVID

For three years, COVID dominated our lives. Dr Zweifler played a key role in our response to the pandemic through his work as a Medical Consultant with the Fresno County Department of Public Health, where he spearheaded COVID efforts in our schools, jails, and homeless shelters. You can read the articles he wrote for Medium during this time by clicking on the below links. The articles reflect the societal impact of COVID and our evolving understanding of how to cope with its consequences.

Disjointed Response to Covid-19 Reflected in Approach to Screening, Testing, and Contact Tracing

Dramatic Drop in Patient Volumes is Symptom of Serious Dysfunction in Health Care

Tackling Health Disparities- the Health Consequences of Racism

Stimulus Funding, Equity, and Thinking Big: A Rare Opportunity to Apply Population Health…

Defund Health Care. Defund the police can be understood as…

Population Health in Times of Crisis

Schools, Sports, and Covid Through a Health Equity Lens

Why a Hybrid Model for School Reopening is Our Best Hope

Recorded Presentations

COVID-19: Population Health in Times of Crisis: Webinar Recording

Click below for a 45-minute webinar during which Dr. John Zweifler describes how population health is being used to creatively bridge some of the critical gaps in our healthcare ecosystem.

In normal times, the “fault lines” in our siloed healthcare system seem relatively benign. We’ve come to accept that the key players are “heads-down”, focusing on what they do best. The COVID-19 crisis has sharpened our awareness of the potential for population health initiatives to quickly and efficiently close some of those gaps when the stakes are so high and business as usual is no longer acceptable.

Other Presentations

 
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PRIOR PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS

Presenter - “Monoclonal Antibodies and COVID- 19: What you need to know”. Nephrology Symposium 2021. Fresno Madera Medical Society. Fresno, California. Oct 16, 2021

Panel Member: Panel Discussion - Meeting of the Minds: Health Disparities Across the Ecosystem. Healthcare Businesswoman’s Association, Downtown Chicago Chapter. Virtual. Sept 23, 2021

Co-Presenter: Disparities in Disease Prevalence Based on Racial Differences by Zip Code. 2021 Society of Actuaries Health Meeting. Virtual. June 15, 2021

E-Poster Poster Title: Success in TeAHM!: A study on a quality improvement project on Team approach in Health Maintenance (TeAHM) at the Hanford Family Medicine Residency Clinic (FMC)  Beddoe, R., Bong, J., Fong, K., Golez, C., Krishna, V., Lwin, P., Zweifler, J.2020. AAFP Family Medicine Experience (FMX) Virtual event. October 13-17, 2020