Granville-Vance Public Health director Lisa Harrison is the new president-elect of the National Association of City and County Health Officials.
Harrison served in 2020-21 as vice-president of the group, and officially began her term as president-elect on July 1, 2021. She will serve as president in 2022-2023. The NACCHO 360 annual conference was held virtually June 29-July 1.
“I had the great privilege to offer remarks as the incoming president for the National Association of County and City Health Officials,” Harrison told WIZS News Thursday. She said she addressed the conference attendees on its last day, following discussion of a multitude of important topics by a “national audience of public health practitioners, researchers, elected officials, and people as passionate about community service as we are here at GVPH.”
“There are so many things for public health to be proud of, and relentless about, in the time that feels like a brief pause between vaccination efforts and continued social justice work,” Harrison said.
She joined Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky to facilitate a panel discussion during the conference that featured health directors, academic leaders and CDC representatives to address health disparities and structural racism. “She (Walensky) did a marvelous job thanking the public health workforce for their long-standing dedication and knowledge,” Harrison noted.
“The work ahead is as big and as hard as the pandemic response – the work ahead is about continuing to build community and reduce structural barriers to access to health and wellness in all forms. I believe strongly in our work together and am delighted to be having these conversations on a national stage to connect what is working and more quickly be able to address what is not,” Harrison said.
Harrison joined GVPH in 2012 and has worked in public health for more than 24 years. She was director of the Office of Healthy Carolinians and health education at the N.C. Division of Public Health; she was the 2015 president of the N.C. Public Health Association, among other leadership roles in the field.
“The public health infrastructure is clearly in need of some updates and I’m thrilled to be co-chairing a N.C. Institute of Medicine Task Force here in North Carolina that begins later this month to help guide the thinking and the focused needs about how to wisely build the infrastructure of the 21st century public health approach,” Harrison explained. “We know there are other viruses that will emerge over time, and we will be ready to find them quickly, stop them in their tracks, and educate the public quickly about the steps they can take to stay healthy and keep our communities healthy and strong,” she said.
Her activities and accomplishments in the field of public health make her a perfect match for the leadership role Harrison has as president-elect and, next year, president, to further the association’s mission – to improve the health of communities by strengthening and advocating for local health departments.
Based in Washington, D.C, NACCHO is the only organization dedicated to serving every local health department in the nation, according to information published on its webpage. It serves 3,000 local health departments and is the leader in providing cutting-edge, skill-building, professional resources and programs, seeking health equity, and supporting effective local public health practice and systems.