Jeffrey Howard
40 Under 40 Class of 2019
Louisville, KentuckyCommissioner and Chief Medical Officer
Kentucky Department for Public Health
It has been my position and opinion for some time that the issues facing America, and Kentucky particularly, have to do with the degradation of community. As such, my top priority has always been to refocus our efforts on improving and reuniting communities throughout the state.
BOLD SOLUTION: Jeff redesigned Kentucky’s public health structure to overcome a $40 million deficit while also improving health outcomes. He embarked on a year-long process of gaining local buy-in and strategically uniting state and local entities. He then introduced a new emergent public health system with the goal of a more simple, focused, and prioritized public health system based on modern public health principles. Jeff considers the public health system is a new and innovative approach to public health structure that focuses first on the community.