Thread by @LaurenWeberHP

🚨🚨🚨 Amid the pandemic, at least 27 state and local public health leaders have resigned, retired or been fired across 13 states, due in part to a mix of backlash and stressful, nonstop working conditions.

W/ @annabarryjester @MRSmithAP @AP @KHNews

khn.org/news/public-he…

Dr. Amy Acton, top health leader in Ohio, dealt with armed protesters at her house. She resigned yesterday. In California’s Orange County, the home address of health officer Dr. Nichole Quick, and her boyfriend’s name, were revealed in a public meeting. She resigned Monday.

I talked to Emily Brown, a member of @NACCHOalerts 's board and a rural health leader in rural Colorado. The day after a Facebook post criticized her and other officials’ weight and called for “armed citizens,” she was fired.

More from North Carolina to Michigan have resigned or retired suddenly. “They just don’t leave like that,” @NACCHOalerts CEO Lori Freeman said. Public health officials are “really getting tired of the ongoing pressures and the blame game."

“It’s just appalling that in this country that spends as much as we do on health care that we’re facing these really difficult ethical dilemmas: Do I stay in my job and risk threats, or do I leave because it’s not worth it?” CALPHO’s Theresa Anselmo told me.

Many warn we could see more departures in the coming days and weeks as political pressure trickles down from the federal to the state to the local level and more communities reopen.

With the wonderful @annabarryjester and @MRSmithAP for @AP and @KHNews

khn.org/news/public-he…