My goal is to further align the clinical and social services offered from the Department of Health and Human Services with public health priorities and expertise. I also plan to work toward the goal of making every health-related encounter with persons as meaningful as possible in relation to achieving mutually appreciated health goals.
Jonathan Ballard
Chief Medical Officer
New Hampshire Department of Health and Human ServicesDr. Jonathan Ballard is chief medical officer at the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, where he aligns public health priorities with healthcare and social services delivery opportunities to improve population health. Previously, he served as the state epidemiologist in Kentucky, where he led efforts in disease surveillance and prevention, disease outbreak response, harm reduction, and forming partnerships with local communities associated with the opioid epidemic, including contributing to the expansion of syringe service programs to more than 50 sites.
Jonathan completed his medical degree from the University of Louisville, and earned a Master of Philosophy in Epidemiology from University of Cambridge, England, as well as a Master of Public Health Degree from Dartmouth College. He completed medical residencies in Family Medicine at the NH Dartmouth Family Medicine Residency and in Preventive Medicine at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Leadership Preventive Medicine Residency as well as a Paul Ambrose Fellowship for Healthcare Improvement and Leadership. He is an associate professor at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College and at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice.
BOLD SOLUTION: Jonathan implemented a childhood hepatitis A immunization requirement for schools and group settings. This was all done before an outbreak of acute hepatitis A was experienced in Kentucky, and was a key reason why the outbreak did not affect children nearly as much as adults in the state. Additional work around responding to the acute hepatitis A outbreak included problem-solving around data collection and creating enhanced data questionnaires as part of the outbreak response. This work led to Jonathan's co-authorship of an article identifying homelessness as a new risk factor for acute hepatitis A, and contributed to a national clinical policy change for vaccination recommendations by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
