Washington, DC, July 28, 2025 — The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), the voice of the over 3,300 local health departments across the country, has named Scott Lockard, Public Health Director of Kentucky River District Health Department (KRDHD) this year’s recipient of the National Champion of Local Governmental Public Health Award. This award recognizes outstanding, significant, and innovative activities and accomplishments by an individual, agency, or organization that has consistently or, in an extraordinary way, promoted the visibility, importance, and recognition of local governmental health departments or NACCHO on a national basis. The award was presented during the 2025 NACCHO360 Annual Conference in Anaheim, California on July 17, 2025.
“I am extremely honored and humbled to receive this award,” said Lockard. “Public health is a passion, not just a job. I feel blessed to have been able to serve others throughout my career. I am so appreciative of the other public health professionals who have worked with me to make our communities a better place to live, work, and recreate. I am most appreciative of my family, without whose support, none of this would have been possible.”
Recipients of this award demonstrate at least one of the following achievements: cultivated leaders outside of local health departments to speak in support of the department’s priorities and/or funding; engaged in significant activities and accomplishments that benefit the local public health field; demonstrated service to the advancement and impact of local public health; exhibited commitment, skill, and effort on behalf of local public health; or promoted the visibility and importance of local public health.
Scott has served in public health for over 34 years, beginning his career in public health in 1990 as Senior Social Worker for the Kentucky River District Health Department where he was responsible for the daily provision of social work services in Wolfe, Lee, and Owsley Counties. In 1997, Lockard became the Program Director for the Home Community Based Waiver Program, and then became the Director for Social Services and HANDS Technical Assistant Specialist in 2001. In 2005, Lockard assumed the role of Public Health Director for the Clark County Health Department and Home Health Agency and remained the Director until his retirement in 2017. Lockard re-entered public health in 2018 as the Public Health Director for KRDHD, a seven-county district health department located in Central Appalachia, securing financial stability to the struggling district within the first year in his new role.
A significant example of Lockard’s vision and passion for public health, his innovative leadership, and his steadfast commitment to his community, is the Hub, a state recognized SMART Recovery center in Lee County, Kentucky, a rural community and one of the hardest hit by the opioid epidemic in Eastern Kentucky. The Hub is an innovative approach to substance use disorder recovery by deploying a plethora of evidence-based practices with a whole health approach for the individual. The Hub, a one stop resource center for anybody in addiction and recovery, is leading the way in efforts to address substance use disorder.
Lockard has served as an adjunct faculty in the College of Social Work at Morehead State University and University of Kentucky. He is a graduate of the Kentucky Public Health Leadership Institute and a 2011 graduate of the National Public Health Institute. He is a past president of the Kentucky Public Health Association and the Kentucky Health Departments Association. He has worked hands-on with leadership in Kentucky to see the public health transformation model come to fruition. His unique background in social services and decades of public health experience continue to benefit the citizens and public health workforce of Kentucky.
“Congratulations to Scott for receiving the National Champion of Local Governmental Public Health Award,” said Lori Tremmel Freeman, NACCHO CEO. “With over three decades of dedicated service to public health, Scott has a proven track record of leading with true purpose and compassion. We celebrate this well-deserved honor and remarkable journey behind it.”
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About NACCHO
The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) represents the over 3,300 local governmental health departments across the country. These city, county, metropolitan, district, and tribal departments work every day to protect and promote health and well-being for all people in their communities. For more information, visit www.naccho.org.
