Columbus Board of Health Announces New Health Commissioner
COLUMBUS
PUBLIC HEALTH
October
17, 2017
Contact:
Kelli Newman
Myers
(614) 645-7213 [email protected]
Columbus Board of Health Announces New Health
Commissioner
Dr. Mysheika Williams Roberts to take the Helm of
Columbus Public Health December 1, 2017
The
Columbus Board of Health today announced the appointment of Dr. Mysheika
Williams Roberts as the new health commissioner at Columbus Public Health, the
first African-American to hold the position in the city’s history.
Dr.
Roberts, who has served as medical director and assistant health commissioner
at Columbus Public Health since 2006, will begin her new role as health
commissioner December 1, 2017. She will fill the leadership position left by
Dr. Teresa Long who will retire at the end of November after 31 years of
service at Columbus Public Health, including 15 years as health commissioner.
“Dr.
Roberts has been a critical member of the Columbus Public Health leadership
team and has led many of the organization’s strategic efforts on opiates,
infectious disease outbreak investigations and emergency planning for the past
11 years,” says Board President Karen S. Days, president of The Center for
Family Safety and Healing. “We are confident Dr. Roberts will build upon the
legacy of Dr. Long’s action-oriented leadership to protect and improve the
health of our community.”
“I have
worked with Dr. Roberts for more than 10 years and am excited by the experience
she brings to the position,” said Mayor Andrew J. Ginther. “Her leadership
abilities, her tenure with the city and her collaborative spirit make her
well-suited to address the health needs of Columbus as our next health
commissioner.”
In her new
role, Dr. Roberts will be charged with protecting the health and improving the
lives of nearly one million Columbus and Worthington residents by overseeing
more than 40 public health programs, 500 employees and an annual budget of more
than $50 million.
“I am honored
for this opportunity and the confidence the Board of Health and Mayor Ginther
have placed in me,” said Dr. Roberts. “I look forward to working with my
colleagues at Columbus Public Health, our numerous external partners and the
residents of Columbus, as we protect health and improve lives.”
Dr. Roberts has
extensive public health experience at the local, state and national levels. As
the chief medical officer
and spokesperson at Columbus Public Health, she is responsible for the medical
supervision and policy for all of the department’s clinical programs, the
Division of Population Health and the City of Columbus’ Employee Assistance
Program.
Prior to Columbus Public Health, she served
as an epidemic intelligence service officer for the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention. She also served as the medical director of the Eastern Sexually
Transmitted Diseases Clinic at the Baltimore (Maryland) City Health
Department, and was a clinical instructor at the Johns Hopkins School of
Medicine.
Dr. Roberts earned a Doctor of Medicine
degree from the University of Maryland, a Master of Public Health from the
University of Michigan, and a Bachelor of Arts-Psychology from the University
of California at Berkeley.
For more
information, visit Columbus Public Health or Facebook
– Twitter.
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