Acton quits as Ohio health chief
Trending
Staff and wire report
Dr. Amy Acton has resigned as Ohio's health director after a contentious few months as she became the target of frustrations during the coronavirus pandemic.
She was most recently sued by organizers of music festivals and restaurant owners as the slow reopening of public venues
"I really want to say most of all to Ohioans: Ohioans, you have saved lives. You've done this," she said.
Acton, who called her time as the state health director an "honor of a lifetime," had her authority limited last month by Republican lawmakers who were frustrated by aggressive stay-at-home orders.
"It's true not all heroes wear capes," said Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican who has won praise for his handling of the disease in Ohio. "Some of them do, in fact, wear a white coat, and this particular hero's white coat is embossed with the name Dr. Amy Acton."
Acton is a Liberty High School graduate and spent a portion of her youth in the Mahoning Valley.
"It is difficult for me to put into words to express how grateful I am for Dr. Acton's" service to Ohio, DeWine said in making the announcement.
In the interim, Lance Himes will succeed Acton, who will stay on as the chief health adviser. Himes is general counsel for the Ohio Department of Health and has worked at ODH for more than 15 years. He has also served as interim director and director of the agency.
DeWine said that Acton told him it was time for the change.
"I see incredible opportunities," Acton said, for how the pandemic has "woken us up."
In her new role, she will be advising on health issues as well as still focusing on COVID-19, DeWine said.
Acton said the change will be effective immediately.
A reporter asked Acton during DeWine's Thursday news conference if she regrets any decisions made during the pandemic, after protests outside her house and public criticism.
"I have to say, for anyone doing this job, you'd be surprised how much a lot of that is not the focus," she said.
Instead, she said she focused on keeping Ohioans safe.
Stating she's been struggling for months with the decision, "it's something I knew wasn't sustainable," attributing part of the decision to long hours.
Going forward, she said she looks forward to talking with people -- and having more "nuanced" conversations.
TESTING
DeWine stated that COVID-19 testing is being expanded around the state and open to everyone in the state.
Ohio residents interested in finding testing centers, including pop-up locations, can visit coronavirus.ohio.gov and click on testing, then commuity health centers.
Churches are starting to open up, DeWine said, which were not closed by the state.
Suggested guidelines, however, were shared by the governor Thursday, including: having families sit together and leave space between others; everyone wearing face coverings; and limited touching of items such as collection baskets.
Six deaths due to COVID-19 were reported Thursday in Mahoning County, according to Mahoning County Public Health.
Otherwise this week, only three new deaths were reported in the Mahoning Valley.
Overall, the Valley has 310 COVID-19 deaths as of Thursday: 202 in Mahoning, 53 in Trumbull and 55 in Columbiana.
There are 2,490 COVID-19 deaths in the state.
As of Thursday, there are 40,004 confirmed cases of the virus in Ohio, up from 39,575 Wednesday.
Across the state, 6,753 people were hospitalized as of Thursday, an increase from 6,693 the day prior.
There were 1,732 people listed as having been treated in intensive-care units, up from 1,714 Wednesday.
afox@tribtoday.com