Herrmann Spetzler is a 30-year resident of Humboldt County. Herrmann began his career as a research engineer at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Throughout his professional life, Herrmann has dedicated himself to planning, empowering, and innovative strategies for increased access to primary healthcare in rural environments. He is the founder of the Northern Rural Roundtable and California State Rural Health Association and a co-founder and past President of the California Primary Care Association. He has served on numerous boards, commissions and healthcare advisory panels that have resulted in better access to primary care for residents of rural America. He is a past President of Humboldt Child Care Council, California Association of Free- Standing Birth Centers, and the Clinic Mutual Insurance Company.

Mr. Spetzler is currently President of the CNNC; a network of community clinics stretching from the Oregon border to the San Francisco Bay area, the President of the North Coast Clinics Network, and advisory board member of CHIS (California Health Interview Survey) at UCLA's Center For Health Policy Research.

In 2002, Mr. Spetzler was recognized by the US House of Representatives, the California Legislature, and The California Endowment for his outstanding contributions towards improving the healthcare of all Californians. In 1977 Herrmann became Chief Executive Officer of the Humboldt Open Door Clinic and under his stewardship over the last thirty years has expanded the original store-front clinic to include nine locations providing more than130,000 medical, dental and mental health visits to over 36,000 patients per year. Most recently his accomplishments include the creation of the Telehealth and Visiting Specialist Center, a regional hub for increased
access to specialist care throughout Northwestern Rural California using the latest telemedicine technologies.

Herrmann Spetzler was born in 1948. He received his Bachelor of Science from California State University at Los Angeles and his Masters of Arts from Humboldt State University and MIS training from Stanford University. He is married to Cheyenne Spetzler and has three children and four grand daughters.