“I am very pleased to welcome Melanie Hutton to serve on our Board of Directors, and I look forward to the leadership and guidance she will bring for the next three years,” said NACCHO Chief Executive Officer Lori Tremmel Freeman.”
Washington, DC, September 1, 2022 — Melanie J. Hutton, RN, MSN, Administrator of the Cooper County Public Health Center in Boonville, MO, has been newly elected to the National Association of County and City Health Officials’ (NACCHO) Board of Directors for a three-year term as a Director for Region 7, representing local health departments in IA, KS, MO, and NE. NACCHO is the voice of the country’s nearly 3,000 local health departments. Ms. Hutton’s term began on July 1, 2022.
Said Ms. Hutton, “It is an honor and a privilege to the be elected and serve with my peers on the National Association of City County Health Officials’ Board of Directors. Rural public health voices are critical in the advancement and protection of rural communities. Within the culture of NACCHO big cities and rural communities come together; as we learn together, we advance public health for all.”
“I am very pleased to welcome Melanie Hutton to serve on our Board of Directors, and I look forward to the leadership and guidance she will bring for the next three years,” said NACCHO Chief Executive Officer Lori Tremmel Freeman.”
About Ms. Hutton
This is Ms. Hutton’s second time serving on the NACCHO Board of Directors. She is a second-generation public health official. At the age of five, her mother went to work for a health department and home health agency. The health department was across the street from the school. Every day after school, Ms. Hutton spent the afternoon with her mother at work. Her first job was stamping health pamphlets. Later, she spent summers volunteering with the nursing staff in mobile rural community health clinics in church basements. Ms. Hutton later worked as a relief homecare aide. Public health is woven into the fabric of her life. She is also the proud mother of two adult children.
Ms. Hutton earned her associate degree in nursing from Lincoln University, her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Central Missouri, and her master’s degree in nursing from Central Methodist University. She has over 28 years of experience as a public health nurse administrator and past nursing specialty experiences in substance abuse/addiction treatment and acute psychiatric-mental health.
Ms. Hutton also serves as an adjunct nursing professor at Stephens College in Boonville, MO.
About NACCHO’s Board of Directors
NACCHO is governed by a 20-member board consisting of local and tribal health officials who are elected by their peers, as well as one ex-officio member representing partner organizations.
As the governing body, NACCHO’s Board of Directors establishes the association’s strategic direction and initiatives, sets the annual legislative agenda, approves official policy statements, ensures that annual goals are met, and provides financial oversight. The Board is NACCHO’s public face and represents members in matters of policy, public health practice, and collaboration with health partners in the public and private sectors.
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About the Cooper County Public Health Center
The Cooper County Public Health Center is located within the heart of central Missouri on the Missouri river. We are equal distance from Kansas City and St. Louis on Interstate 70. Agriculture is the major economic driver. The population is an estimated 17,500. The Health Center was founded in 1931 as a county health agency. In 2006 by a vote of the citizens the health department was transferred to a political subdivision that is supported by a tax and governed by a five-member board of trustees.
About NACCHO
The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) represents the nation’s nearly 3,000 local governmental health departments. 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 about NACCHO, please visit www.naccho.org.
