Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has announced the appointment of Dr. Amy Acton as the first woman to serve as director of the Ohio Department of Health.
Acton has decades of experience working as a doctor and administrator, and most recently served as a community research and grants management officer at the Columbus Foundation. She also served as an assistant professor at The Ohio State University’s College of Public Health for seven years.
Acton is also the first physician to lead the department in nearly five years.
DeWine praised Acton’s extensive background in public health and preventive medicine during her appointment announcement. The previous two health directors, under then-Gov. John Kasich, were a health department lawyer, Lance Himes and Rick Hodges, the former director of the Ohio Turnpike and a health center marketing director, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
“We have to rethink how we approach this department,” DeWine said, adding that he I looking forward to the agency addressing issues like substance abuse, youth suicide, infant mortality and lead-paint poisoning.
“I wanted someone to help me and other Cabinet members attack some of the issues we face,” DeWine said.
Acton said she has a holistic approach to public health and the factors that feed into wellness or illness.
