Political backlash hits health officials
State and local public health officials across the U.S. have found themselves at the center of a political storm.
Some have become the targets of far-right activists, conservative groups and anti-vaccination extremists, who have coalesced around common goals — fighting mask orders, quarantines and contact tracing with protests, threats and personal attacks. Public health powers are being undermined in the courts. And lawmakers in at least 24 states have crafted legislation to weaken long-held public health powers.
Amid this pushback, at least 181 state and local public health leaders in 38 states have resigned, retired or been fired since April 1, according to an ongoing investigation by The Associated Press and Kaiser Health News. According to experts, this is the largest exodus of public health leaders in American history.
About 40 million people — 1 in 8 Americans — live in a community that has lost its local public health department leader during the pandemic. Top public health officials in 20 states have left state-level departments, and an untold number of lower-level staffers have also departed.
Many of the leaders exited because of political blowback or pandemic pressure. Some left to take higher-profile positions or because of health concerns. Others were fired for poor performance. Dozens retired.
“We don’t have a long line of people outside of the door who want those jobs,” said Dr. Gianfranco Pezzino, health officer in Shawnee County, Kan., who had decided to retire from his job at the end of the year. “It’s a huge loss that will be felt probably for generations to come.”
But Pezzino could not make it to Dec. 31. On Monday, after county commissioners loosened restrictions, he immediately stepped down.
Since the pandemic began, the public health workforce in Kansas has been hit hard — 17 of the state’s 100 health departments have lost leaders since the end of March.
In Idaho, hundreds of protesters, some armed, swarmed health district offices and health board members’ homes in Boise on Dec. 8, screaming and blaring air horns. They included members of the anti-vaccination group Health Freedom Idaho.
Now, opponents are turning to state legislatures and even the Supreme Court to strip public officials of the legal power they’ve held for decades to stop foodborne illnesses and infectious diseases by closing businesses and quarantining individuals, among other measures.
Lawmakers in Missouri, Louisiana, Ohio, Virginia and at least 20 other states have crafted bills to limit public health powers. In some states, the efforts have failed; in others, legislative leaders have embraced them enthusiastically.
Meanwhile, governors in several states, including Wisconsin, Kansas and Michigan, have been sued by their own legislators or others for using their executive powers to restrict business operations and require masks.
Along with the political backlash, many health officials have faced threats of personal violence. In California, a man with ties to the right-wing, anti-government Boogaloo movement was accused of stalking and threatening Santa Clara’s health officer. He was arrested and pleaded innocent.