Dr. Antonia Zazueta Charles currently serves at the Director of the Pediatric Healthy Lifestyle Center (PHLC) at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center.
Title: Commissioner
Represent: The Health & Hospital of Santa Clara County
Committee: Issues: Review & Development
Prior to becoming the Center’s director in 2013, she worked for thirteen years as a primary care pediatrician at the Valley Health Center at East Valley. During that time, Dr. Charles served on the Valley Medical Center Foundation Board for seven years.
Earlier in her career, Dr. Charles focused on childhood literacy and promoting the Reach Out and Read program in pediatric clinics. Dr. Charles worked with the Santa Clara County’s FIRST 5 Commission and the Valley Medical Center Foundation to spread the Reach Out and Read program to all six Santa Clara County community clinics. She not only championed the program in Santa Clara County, but also served as President on the state board of the California Reach Out and Read organization.
Dr. Charles attended all public schools in San Jose before entering Stanford University for her undergraduate degree in Biology. Before entering medical school, Dr. Charles worked as a substitute teacher for one year in the San Jose Unified School District. She received her medical degree from the University of California at San Francisco and completed her pediatric residency at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford. While in residency, Dr. Charles travelled to Mexico and Guatemala to work in small community clinics, and provided pediatric care through The Flying Doctors (Los Medicos Voladores).
Dr. Charles is the proud mother of two young children, David and Sara, and continues to love living and working in Santa Clara County.