Washington, DC, August 2, 2023 – The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), representing the country’s nearly 3,000 local health departments, has named Michael Kilkenny, MD, MS, CEO and Health Officer for the Cabell-Huntington Health Department, President-Elect of its Board of Directors for the 2023-2024 term. Dr. Kilkenny assumed the role on July 1, 2023. Following his term as President-Elect, he will become Board President on July 1, 2024.
“I am deeply honored to serve as President-Elect of the NACCHO Board. The national perspective NACCHO participation provides raises the performance of local health departments while amplifying the voices of the front-line workers trying to serve and improve their communities,” said Dr. Kilkenny.
“On behalf of the Board of Directors and our local health departments, we are pleased to have Dr. Kilkenny continue his tenure on the NACCHO Executive Committee as President-Elect. Dr. Kilkenny is an outstanding advocate for local public health, and he has contributed greatly to the NACCHO Board for some time. We look forward to his continued leadership as an Officer of the organization,” said NACCHO Chief Executive Officer Lori Tremmel Freeman.
About Dr. Kilkenny
Michael Kilkenny, MD is a board-certified family practice physician trained in an innovative residency program, which included preparation to be a local health officer with a master’s degree in community health. He has practiced medicine in settings as varied as remote rural private practice to academic medicine and has had the opportunity to serve as medical director in a large Federally Qualified Health Center system prior to fulfilling his aspiration to serve as a local health officer.
As a health officer, Dr. Kilkenny has had opportunities to direct transformative activities to modernize the local health department, and his agency has achieved accreditation by the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB). In addition, he has led the health department in working collaboratively with multiple partners improving public health statistics in their community regarding opioid harms, tobacco use, and COVID-19 pandemic response. In their opioid work, Dr. Kilkenny’s health department has partnered with academic centers to publish studies that describe injection drug use in rural Appalachia. They have also worked with field staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to control a major U.S. HIV outbreak among injection drug users, publishing process and outcome studies to help inform strategic planning regionally and nationally. Dr. Kilkenny serves on the West Virginia Governor’s Council on Substance Abuse, Prevention, and Treatment, and he has been a member of the Board of Directors of NACCHO since 2018.
About NACCHO’s Board of Directors
NACCHO is governed by a 22-member board comprising 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.
NACCHO’s Board is led by four executive officers. In addition to Dr. Kilkenny, this includes:
- President, Pramōd Dwivedī, DrPH, Health Director of Linn County Public Health in Cedar Rapids, IA
- Vice President Damōn Chaplin, MBA, Health Commissioner, City of Minnesota, Department of Public Health, MN
- Immediate-Past President Margaret (Margy) Jahn, Director, Freehold Area Health Department, Freehold, NJ
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About Cabell-Huntington Health Department
The Cabell-Huntington Health Department has served the nearly 100,000 people of Cabell County and the City of Huntington, WV since 1955. With a staff of 45 full time, dedicated public health workers, the Cabell-Huntington Health Department works diligently to achieve our vision of “Healthy people living and working in a healthy community.” For more information, visit www.cabellhealth.org.
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.
