‘I don’t know what to expect’: Top health official preps for retirement

Dr. Fermin Leguen’s family had expected him to become physician since he was a child growing up in Cuba.

He initially thought that he might study aviation technology. He wanted travel the world.

“Honestly, medicine wasn’t one of my top things to do,” he said in a recent interview. “But at the same time — like every other kid — you really have no idea about what any career is about.”

Leguen, 71, eventually made a choice he said he’s never regretted.

“Finally, I decided to go with medicine,” Leguen said.

Southern Nevada’s Health District top official is retiring at the beginning of March, marking an end to a decades-long career that dispatched him across the globe to serve in public health.

“I have never (spent) a long period of time doing nothing, so I don’t know what to expect,” he said about his upcoming retirement.

Leguen — who became the face of the valley’s COVID-19 response as acting chief health officer— said he will miss his team and their dedication.

He will simply miss “just being here.”

Leguen said he believes the Health District will remain in good hands, supported with a “very strong team.”

“We have very professional people here with a lot of skills, highly trained,” he said. “Regardless of who’s leading the organization, the biggest strength we have is the people we have here. And they are fully capable of responding to multiple public-health threats that we could face.”

The Health District board appointed Dr. Cassius Lockett — deputy district health officer — to succeed Leguen.

‘Tremendous contributions’

Leguen, who speaks softly and has a shy demeanor, was honored at Las Vegas City Hall earlier this month.

Shortly after the room cleared from the festivities that welcomed new Mayor Shelley Berkley and Councilwoman Shondra Summers-Armstrong, Councilwoman Olivia Diaz took the microphone to issue a proclamation honoring Leguen for his “tremendous contributions.”

“Dr. Leguen, gracias,” Diaz said. “I just want to say ‘thank you’ for everything that you have done.”

Leguen joined the health district in 2016 as director of clinical services. In October 2019 — a few months before the global pandemic broke out, he was named acting chief health officer.

“Little did we know when we selected him… what we were going to be reeling and dealing with as the world and as a community,” Diaz said. “I don’t think this man would get a shut eye.”

As the health district searched for a permanent agency head, “the board leadership just decided Dr. Leguen has already proven himself as the right leader for this agency.”

Leguen was officially promoted in early 2021.

During his tenure, he spearheaded the opening of two community health hubs that offer immunizations and primary health services for patients with no health insurance, Diaz noted.

He said he’s proud of his administration’s program that helps address a congenital syphilis crisis that’s “devastating” children.

During the pandemic, Leguen led the rollout of a bilingual education campaign for Spanish speakers at a time when Latinos accounted for 25 percent of COVID-19 deaths, Diaz said.

When Clark County commissioners faced backlash in the fall of 2021 over a resolution declaring vaccine misinformation a source of increased demand for unsafe treatments, Leguen supported the motion.

“While it is essential for public agencies to provide a forum for people to comment and give input on issues that impact them, it is critical that information impacting the health and safety of the public be based on proven science and accurate data,” he said at the time.

“He’s made it a priority for the Southern Nevada Health District to reflect the community it serves,” Diaz said. “And to forge partnerships with diverse community organizations in order to better reach and serve underserved residents.”

Diaz said Leguen headed the region’s response to other public health emergencies, such as the opioid epidemic and the West Nile virus.

“I wish COVID was the only one,” Diaz said.

A life of service

Leguen was born in Guantanamo, Cuba. His parents moved the family to the capital city of Havana when he was a toddler.

He studied medicine at the University of Havana.

Leguen worked for Cuba’s social services. He fled the communist country in 1991, eventually migrating to the U.S. where he began a residency in Puerto Rico before completing a pediatric residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Throughout his career, he was a vaccination consultant in Africa, Caribbean countries and South America.

He credits vaccinations for saving lives during the pandemic.

“When you’re seeing the number of deaths increasing day by day and there is nothing telling you that this is going to get better, it’s very, very depressing,” he said.

While nobody can fully prepare for a future pandemic, Leguen said that the agency has learned lessons to hamper the impact. Community in Southern Nevada collaboration was crucial, he added.

“We must be ready to learn every single day,” he said. “Nobody has the 100 percent answer for anything. We must be willing to communicate with our peers and the public our concerns, our limitations. And also make sure our community is aware of the multiple threats that could be there.”

Leguen, who has a wife and a daughter, said he’s looking forward to having more time to read fiction and watch Korean movies.

Asked to reflect about being an immigrant of color in the U.S. with a life of service under his sleeve, Leguen spoke generally about living out a dream.

“What I would say to anybody is that you have to follow your dreams,” he said. “You must be consistent with your beliefs. You must be able to sacrifice yourselves and be confident.”

Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.