PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Delaware County’s Board of Health has officially approved its new health department director.
Melissa Lyon becomes the first director of the Delaware County Health Department. She comes to Delaware County from Erie County, where she has been public health director for eight years.
Lyon said her time in the Peace Corps in West Africa in the late 90s and early 2000s started her down this career path.
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“That's where my passion for public health really started," Lyon said.
"I got to see maternal child health issues. I saw vaccine preventable diseases that were not being prevented such things as sanitation, hygiene, access to clean water.”
Lyon said there are certainly challenges, but the County Board of Health is tackling a lot of those already. She added that she sees advantages in starting a county health department from scratch.
“In Delaware County, we're going to be able to modernize it from the creation, which is super exciting, not been done before. So I know we'll be charting some uncharted waters together," Lyon said.
She explained that public health has been ignored for decades, and the past two years of the pandemic have exposed a lot of its shortcomings.
Lyon shared that she understands frustration, but adds 20 years of neglect can’t be fixed in 24 months. She said communication will be key in establishing trust and mutual respect.
Lyon said the Board of Health has drawn up a plan to check off all the requirements to be recognized as a health department. She said she looks forward to expanding other programs.
“I know that there's some real innovative space that we want to get into to around the mental health issues, and then [asking] 'How are we working with some of our more non-traditional public health partners to address things in a more comprehensive way, as opposed to physical health versus mental health?'” Lyon said.
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She said public health has to be more than just telling people what to do, since that generally just makes people resist.
“That's natural, that's human behavior," she explained.
"But if you've been part of the conversations, you've been part of the planning and you felt heard or at the table, then you find the common ground and you're doing it together."
She said she will be in Erie County until early January, and she expects to be in Delaware County by the middle of January.