Elke Shaw-Tulloch, Administrator and State Health Official from the State of Idaho, joins the Board.

June 24, 2024 — The Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) has announced its 2024-25 Board of Directors and new officers. PHAB also welcomed Elke Shaw-Tulloch, MHS, Administrator and State Health Official, Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, Division of Public Health, as its newest board member.

The Board held elections during its June meeting in Kansas City, Missouri. The incoming officers’ term begins on July 1, 2024.

PHAB President and CEO Paul Kuehnert, DNP, RN, CPH, FAAN, said, “We are pleased to have incredibly knowledgeable and dedicated public health leaders as officers on our Board. They each bring the unique experiences, diverse perspectives, and long-standing commitment necessary to guide PHAB in this next phase to strengthen and transform our governmental public health system. We are particularly excited to welcome Elke Shaw-Tulloch to our Board. She brings a wealth of professional skills and accomplishments that will help further PHAB’s mission.”

New PHAB Board Member:

• Elke Shaw-Tulloch, MHS, serves as administrator and state health official for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, Division of Public Health. Shaw-Tulloch’s career in the Division includes various positions, including Bureau Chief of the Bureau of Community and Environmental Health and, as of 2012, the State Health Official and Administrator of the Division of Public Health. She is currently the longest-tenured state health official in the nation and its territories. She has an undergraduate degree in environmental health with a minor in biology and a Master of Health Science degree with an emphasis on environmental health from Boise State University.

PHAB Board Officers:

• Claude A. Jacob, DrPH, MPH, public health director of the City of San Antonio Metropolitan Health District (TX), has been reelected to serve as chair of the PHAB Board of Directors. Dr. Jacob has over two decades of administrative experience in public health. In 2022, he spearheaded the launch of SA Forward, a multi-year plan addressing priority areas and social conditions impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, Dr. Jacob serves on the Board of directors for the American Public Health Association (APHA) and the Texas Association of City and County Health Officials. He is a past president of the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO). Dr. Jacob earned a Doctor of Public Health degree from the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health and a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health.
• Colleen Svoboda, MPH, partnerships and assessment manager at the College of Public Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center, has been reelected as vice chair. Svoboda began her public health career by providing technical assistance and training to local health departments in Nebraska. She led a team of six to coordinate a successful accreditation effort at the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, focusing on community health assessment, strategic planning, health improvement planning, quality improvement, performance management, and workforce development.
• Julie Willems Van Dijk, PhD, retired deputy secretary and state health officer for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, has been reelected secretary and treasurer. She received a PhD in nursing with an emphasis in public health leadership from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She is a graduate of the Robert Wood Johnson Nurse Executive Fellows program, the National Public Health Leadership Institute, and is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing.

Reelected PHAB Board Members:

• Renee Branch Canady, PhD, MPA, CEO, Michigan Public Health Institute;
• Bruce Dart, PhD, Executive Director, Tulsa Health Department; and
• Julie Willems Van Dijk, PhD, Retired Deputy Secretary & State Health Officer, Wisconsin Department of Health Services; Past Local Health Officer, Marathon County, WI.

The Board of Directors provides oversight and direction for PHAB’s work throughout public health. Board members play a crucial role in helping PHAB build trust in public health and ensure excellence and sustainable innovation.

A complete listing of the PHAB Board of Directors and bios can be found here.

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About the PHAB

PHAB administers the national public health accreditation program and works to advance and transform the public health practice of governmental public health departments in the United States and abroad through quality and performance improvement.