About Me
MICHAEL D. MENDOZA, MD, MPH, MS
Dr. Michael Mendoza is currently Senior Medical Director at Town Square Health, a new value-based, multi-specialty practice opening in Rochester, NY, and Professor in the Departments of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences at the University of Rochester.
Broadly, Dr. Mendoza aims to improve population health through collaboration between primary care practice, public health, and the broader community. As an active primary care physician, Dr. Mendoza focuses on evidence-based care, chronic illness prevention and management, and the integration of behavioral health and technology in primary care. As a health systems expert, Dr. Mendoza works to develop sustainable ways to improve health and health care quality while optimizing the broader system of health care reimbursement.
Dr. Mendoza is perhaps most recognized for having served as the 9th Commissioner of Public Health for Monroe County, NY where he oversaw the Monroe County Health Department, its 283 employees and its $80+ million budget. In this capacity, he supervised the development, implementation, and evaluation of a diverse array of health promotion and disease preparedness efforts serving the residents of Monroe County, NY. During his eight-year tenure in this role, Dr. Mendoza led the county response to the opioid overdose crisis, he advocated for health equity and expanding the public health workforce, and he led the county response to various communicable disease outbreaks including ZIKA, and measles. Most notably, Dr. Mendoza was a key leader in the public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic for the Monroe Country region.
Dr. Mendoza has broad experience in health care having served as Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President at Trillium Health, a federally-qualified health center in Rochester, NY, as well as Special Consultant for Medical Affairs at Excellus BlueCross BlueShield. He currently conducts medical reviews for the NYS Department of Health and serves as a consultant for Strategic Interests, a global health information technology consultant also based in Rochester, NY.
As a board-certified family physician and educator, Dr. Mendoza has worked as a primary care physician for over 20 years, as well as on the inpatient units at Highland Hospital. He joined the faculty at the University of Rochester in 2009 as Medical Director of Highland Family Medicine, overseeing one of the largest family medicine residency teaching practices in the country. In the following seven years, Dr. Mendoza led the practice to local and national recognition in team-based care and interprofessional practice and education.
He is currently co-investigator on several national and local grants aimed at reducing disparities in oral health. He was named "Teacher of the Year" by the Illinois Academy of Family Physicians and has authored or co-authored numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. He has given hundreds of national and local presentations and media interviews. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians and a member of Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society and Delta Omega Public Health Honor Society.
As a leader, Dr. Mendoza has held board and committee roles in the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, the New York State Academy of Family Physicians, the New York State Association of County Health Officials, and the New York Health Foundation. Closer to home, Dr. Mendoza is a member of the Board of Directors of Willow Domestic Violence Center of Rochester where he served as Chair of the Board during the COVID pandemic. He is also a board member of the Rochester Hearing and Speech Center, Causewave Community Partners, and a committee member of the Board of the George Eastman Museum.
Originally from Chicago, IL, Dr. Mendoza received his undergraduate and medical degrees from The University of Chicago. He received his Masters Degree in Public Health from The University of Illinois - Chicago, and he obtained his Masters Degree in Business Administration from the Simon Business School at the University of Rochester. He completed his residency training in Family and Community Medicine at the University of California - San Francisco and served an additional year as Chief Resident. He completed a Fellowship Program in Resident Teaching at UCSF and the Certificate Program in Biomedical Informatics at the Oregon Health and Science University.
In his spare time, Dr. Mendoza enjoys spending time with his kids and 2 goldendoodles, cooking, photography, DIY home projects, sewing, and DJing (mostly 80s and 90s music).