About NACCHO

The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) is the national organization representing local health departments. NACCHO supports efforts that protect and improve the health of all people and all communities by promoting national policy, developing resources and programs, seeking health equity, and supporting effective local public health practice and systems.

NACCHO is governed by a 27-member Board of Directors, comprising health officials from around the country elected by their peers, and including ex officio members representing the National Association of Counties, of which NACCHO is an affiliate, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Program Areas

NACCHO's media relations staff can connect you with spokespeople who can provide a timely local health department perspective on a variety of public health issues, including:

•  COMMUNITY HEALTH topics such as: chronic disease prevention, tobacco control, health and disability, infectious disease prevention and control, immunization, injury prevention, maternal and child health, adolescent health, and health equity.
  
  
• ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH topics such as: the public health effects of climate change, food safety, environmental health tracking and assessment, and environmental justice.
  
  
• PUBLIC HEALTH INFRASTRUCTURE AND SYSTEMS topics such as: accreditation and quality improvement, community health status indicators, public health informatics, performance standards, public health law, and regionalization of public health services.
  
  
• PUBLIC HEALTH PREPAREDNESS topics such as: local readiness for pandemic influenza, Medical Reserve Corps, Project Public Health Ready, and Strategic National Stockpile.

Media Contact

Members of the news media who need information about public health or NACCHO, including our programs and services, or who would like to request interviews should contact the media relations specialist below:

Becky Wexler
Burness Communications
(301) 652-1558
bwexler@burnesscommunications.com

Robert M. (Bobby) Pestronk is the Executive Director and immediate past president of the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO). As the former Health Officer for Genesee County, Michigan, Pestronk enabled Genesee County’s 430,000 citizens to protect, promote, and improve their quality of life in partnership with community resources. As the director of the Genesee County Health Department he administered clinical, regulatory, and other human service programs in the areas of personal, community, behavioral, and environmental health.

Pestronk is a past board member of the Michigan Health Officers Association (of which he is a past president) and currently serves on the Board of the Michigan Association for Local Public Health. He is a Primary Care Policy Fellow through the United States Department of Health and Human Services and trained as a scholar through the Public Health Leadership Institute. He is past president of the Primary Care Fellowship Society and past president of the Public Health Leadership Society Council. He was a member of the Institute of Medicine Public Health Roundtable and of the National Advisory Committee for Turning Point: Collaborating for a New Century of Public Health. He was the first president of the Public Health Law Association. Pestronk received the John H. Romani Outstanding Alumni Award from the University of Michigan School of Public Health Department of Public Health Policy and Administration and was presented the Distinguished Alumnus Award by the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

Pestronk’s published work includes articles in the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, the Journal of the American Public Health Association, Health Education and Behavior, Public Health Reports, and the Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. Chapters in books include those published by the American Public Health Association and Oxford University Press.