Join Us in Welcoming New Members to the
County Government Team
Dear Prince Georgians,
Over the last few months, we have announced the hiring of several new individuals to serve our County Government in various capacities, and yesterday, we were excited to announce the selection of two individuals that will serve Prince George’s County Government in critical leadership roles. Both of these individuals possess a great deal of knowledge and expertise in their respective fields, and we are proud to have them working with us.
We are excited to welcome Dr. Matthew D. Levy to the County to serve as our new Health Officer. In an effort to find the best fit for our Health Department and for our County, we conducted a national search for our next Health Officer, and we are extremely pleased to have Dr. Levy accept this position and join our team.
While we have made tremendous progress in expanding quality healthcare and services for our residents throughout this administration, we know that we were severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and recognize the healthcare challenges we continue to face. Dr. Levy is eminently qualified to serve our residents, and with his background, knowledge, and expertise, we are confident that he will work to improve the overall health and well-being of all Prince Georgians.
We are also excited to announce that Mr. Dawit Abraham has been appointed to serve as the next Director of the Department of Permitting, Inspections, and Enforcement (DPIE). Mr. Abraham has steadily risen through the ranks of Prince George’s County Government throughout his career, bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience to his new role as Director.
We have heard the concerns from our residents and business owners regarding the County’s current permitting processes. That’s why we are working hard to improve these critical government services, including making increased budget investments and implementing service improvements and new technology to better support our residents and businesses. Mr. Abraham has a strong understanding of DPIE and County Government and will play a critical role in leading the agency into its next chapter.
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Levy and Mr. Abraham, and we encourage you take a moment to read more about each of them below.
Yours in service,
Angela Alsobrooks
Prince George’s County Executive
Dr. Matthew D. Levy, MD, MPH, F.A.A.P.
Health Officer
Dr. Matthew D. Levy joins the County with more than 20 years of extensive experience as a physician, faculty instructor, and hospital administrator.
Since 2021, Dr. Levy has served as Professor and Chief of the Division of General and Community Pediatrics at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In this role, he is a practicing pediatrician and has been working to grow the division by focusing on four key elements including: clinical excellence, active resident and student teaching, research and quality improvement, and community engagement and advocacy.
Prior to his current role, Dr. Levy served as the Medical Director of the Clinically Integrated Network for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta in Atlanta, Georgia from 2017 to 2020, where he drove population health programs that addressed community needs such as asthma and immunizations. From 2000 to 2017, Dr. Levy served in various capacities with MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C., including as Division Chief of Community Pediatrics, where he built programs that improved access to care for children and families in Washington, D.C. These programs included a mobile medical clinic and two school based health centers in Washington, D.C. In this capacity, he directed all of the Community Pediatrics Residency training programs, as well as many student programs including the HOYA clinic, the first medical student driven clinic at the DC General Emergency Family Shelter.
During his tenure at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Dr. Levy was responsible for raising more than $9 million in grants to support the Division of Community Pediatrics programs. In addition, he served as the Associate Medical Director of Ambulatory Electronic Health Records (EHR) and Health IT Policy for MedStar Health in Columbia, Maryland from 2011 to 2016.
Since 1996, Dr. Levy has been appointed to numerous fellowships including the Community Pediatrics and Child Advocacy Fellow at the Department of Pediatrics at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C., and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellow at the Institute of Medicine/National Academies of Science in Washington, D.C., where he worked for North Dakota Senator Kent Conrad as a Health Policy Advisor. He has also completed the MedStar Leader of the Future: Physician Leadership Development Program at Medstar Health in Columbia, Maryland, and the Advanced Improvement Methodology course at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio.
In addition to his clinical and hospital affiliations, Dr. Levy has spent more than 20 years as a faculty instructor. He previously served in several faculty positions at Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C., including as Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor in the Department of Pediatrics. Dr. Levy has also served as an Advisor on a Nutrition and Physical Activity Initiative at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, D.C., and as an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Emory School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia.
Dr. Levy has been appointed to serve in several leadership and committee positions on local and regional boards including the District of Columbia Primary Care Association, DC Immunization Task Force, DC Lead Task Force, DC Partnership to Improve Children’s Healthcare Quality, DC Child and Family Services Agency Task Force, Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity, and the Milwaukee Academy of Science. In addition, in 2012 he served nationally as a member of President Obama’s Health Care Advisory Committee and the Lead Coordinator of the Obama Health Care Advisory Committee’s Truth Squad. In 2013, he was elected as a local Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner for DC Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 6A04, where he served from 2014 to 2017.
Throughout his career, Dr. Levy has received numerous awards and accolades including the Special Achievement Award for Distinguished Service from the D.C. Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in 2006 and 2008, as well as the Leo Tow Humanism in Medicine Award, the Gold Humanism Honor Society, and the Dr. Michael Adams Award, all from the Georgetown University School of Medicine. He has previously served on the board of the D.C. Chapter of the AAP. Dr. Levy currently serves as a Fellow with the AAP and as a member of the Wisconsin Chapter of the AAP.
Dr. Levy holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan and a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland. He holds a Doctor of Medicine from New York Medical College in Westchester, New York.
Dr. Levy will begin his new role as Acting Health Officer on August 14, 2023. His nomination package to serve as Health Officer will be submitted to the Prince George’s County Council to go through the confirmation process, which would then need to be approved by the State of Maryland.
Dawit Abraham
Director, Department of Permitting, Inspections, and Enforcement
Mr. Dawit Abraham is a certified Professional Engineer with over four decades of experience and has served in various roles within Prince George’s County Government for nearly 38 years, currently serving as a Deputy Director at the Department of Permitting, Inspections, and Enforcement (DPIE), a position he has held since August 2017.
In his role as a Deputy Director, he supports the DPIE Director in the administration of the agency budget and supporting 308 staff members, giving him direct insight into the day-to-day operations of the agency and the work performed by the various divisions. In addition, his engineering background has allowed him to support the design, permitting, and inspection of several major development projects in the County, to include the Hampton Park Project in Capitol Heights, the University of Maryland Capital Region Medical Center, and the New Carrollton Metro development.
Prior to assuming the role of Deputy Director, Mr. Abraham was an Associate Director at DPIE from July 2013 to August 2017. In this role, he was the lead engineer overseeing major development projects, including the Hotel at the University of Maryland, the Purple Line, and development around the Downtown Largo Metro station. He also supervised the Administrative Services Division, overseeing the agency budget and human resources issues.
Before joining DPIE, Mr. Abraham rose through the ranks of the County’s Department of Public Works & Transportation (DPW&T), serving as Chief of the Construction Regulations Division, Chief of the Engineering and Inspection Services Division, and Associate Director of Engineering. In several of these roles, he was responsible for overseeing the planning, permitting, and construction of infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, and drainage systems. He was also responsible for conducting inspections and code enforcement of new County transportation infrastructure.
Mr. Abraham obtained his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Iowa and holds a Master of Science in Civil and Structural Engineering from Lehigh University. Mr. Abraham is a certified Professional Engineer, with a current license in both Maryland and Virginia. He is also a member of the County Engineers Association of Maryland, the National Society of Professional Engineers, and the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Mr. Abraham will assume the role of Acting Director of DPIE on July 3, 2023. His nomination package to serve as Director will be submitted to the Prince George’s County Council to go through the confirmation process.
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