“We are delighted that local health departments across the country have elected Dr. Kilkenny to serve as NACCHO’s Vice President,” said Lori Tremmel Freeman, NACCHO Chief Executive Officer.
Washington, DC, July 1, 2022 – The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), representing the country’s nearly 3,000 local health departments, has elected Michael Kilkenny, MD, CEO and Health Officer of the Cabell-Huntington Health Department in Huntington, WV, Vice-President of its Board of Directors’ 2022-2023 term. Dr. Kilkenny assumed the role on July 1, 2022. Following his service as Vice President, he will become Board President-Elect on July 1, 2023.
“It is a great honor to be elected to serve as Vice President for the NACCHO Board of Directors. NACCHO is the preeminent organization representing public health in local government, serving the nation at its roots,” said Dr. Kilkenny.
“We are delighted that local health departments across the country have elected Dr. Kilkenny to serve as NACCHO’s Vice President,” said Lori Tremmel Freeman, NACCHO Chief Executive Officer. “Dr. Kilkenny has been an excellent contributor to the NACCHO Board for some time; he remains a resounding champion for local public health in the media and through his active volunteerism on Board committees. We welcome him as a new Officer of the Board and look forward to his continued strong leadership.”
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 20-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 2022-2023 Board is led by four executive officers. In addition to Dr. Kilkenny, this includes:
- President Margaret Jahn, MS, MPH, Director of the Freehold Area Health Department, Freehold, NJ
- President-Elect Pramod Dwivedi, DrPH, MS, MSW, MA, Health Director, Linn County Public Health Department, Cedar Rapids, IA
- Immediate-Past President Lisa Macon Harrison, MPH, Local Health Director, Granville Vance Public Health Department, Oxford, NC
###
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 38 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.
