News Releases

Medical Board of California Appoints New Executive Director

Published: Wednesday, March 3, 2020

(Sacramento, California) - The Medical Board of California (Board) has appointed William J. Prasifka as its new executive director. A native of California, Prasifka comes to the Board from the Medical Council of Ireland, where he has served as its chief executive officer (CEO) for the past four years. Prasifka will officially start his position with the Board in June.

"The Board has hired a very strong leader, someone who has been in a variety of government-regulation environments, including the regulation of physicians," Board president Denise Pines said. "I think that Mr. Prasifka will bring fresh eyes to the work that we have been doing and help us rethink the way that we are doing things."

Prior to leading the Medical Council of Ireland, which regulates the country's 23,000 physicians, Prasifka worked as the financial services ombudsman for Ireland's Financial Services Ombudsman Bureau, chief executive officer/chair of the Competition Authority (Ireland's statutory body responsible for the administration and implementation of competition law), and as a commissioner for the Commission for Aviation Regulation.

He is a 1984 graduate of the Columbia University School of Law, New York, and a 2018 graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, with 12 years' experience in leading law firms in both Ireland and the U.S.

###

The mission of the Medical Board of California is to protect health care consumers through the proper licensing and regulation of physicians and surgeons and certain allied health care professionals and through the vigorous, objective enforcement of the Medical Practice Act, and to promote access to quality medical care through the Board's licensing and regulatory functions. If you have a question or complaint about the health care you are receiving, the Board encourages you to visit its website at www.mbc.ca.gov or call (800) 633-2322. For up-to-date information on Board activities, please join our "Subscribers' List" at www.mbc.ca.gov/Subscribe.

Contact: Carlos Villatoro, Medical Board of California, (916) 263-2394