SHERMAN OAKS : Dermatologist Chosen to Lead CMA

Dr. Jack McCleary is a dermatologist who wants to change the face of health care in California.

“I would like to see every individual in California involved in their health care,” said McCleary, who has a Sherman Oaks practice. “We could sure cut health-care costs a great deal.”

McCleary, 67, of Hidden Hills, may have a chance to do just that.

Last week, he was elected president-elect of the California Medical Assn., the largest state medical association in the nation. He will serve in that post for a year before becoming president.

The biggest change in his life should be his itinerary.

He’ll meet with legislators in Sacramento, and visit county medical associations in Northern California. He’s scheduled to practice only seven days this month.

The new challenge caps McCleary’s four decades with the CMA. He joined when he came to the San Fernando Valley in 1957 from the prestigious Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and served as president of the Los Angeles County Medical Assn. in the mid-1980s.

He said he is proud of the CMA’s efforts to ban smoking statewide, and to make it mandatory for motorcyclists to wear helmets.

There is much more work to be done. McCleary would still like to find ways to keep youngsters away from smoking.

“Many start at 8 or 9 years old,” he said, “and once they get hooked on tobacco, they end up being a public health problem.”

He’d also like to see tighter restrictions on handgun purchases, and a state law requiring all bicyclists to wear helmets.