Lillian Shirley, director of the Multnomah County Health Department, formally assumed the duties of President-Elect of the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) in July at the Association’s annual meeting in Memphis, Tennessee.

In collaboration with community partners, Shirley provides public health leadership to address the county’s health needs and offers health policy leadership on both a county and state level. She just completed a term as NACCHO Vice President.

“NACCHO is a powerful collective voice for all of us working in communities on the front lines of local public health. It is an honor to be able to contribute to policy at the national level,” said Shirley.

Shirley was appointed to the Oregon Health Policy Board (OHPB) by the Governor of Oregon in the fall of 2009. This body is responsible for improving access, cost and quality of the health care delivery system, and the health of all Oregonians. OHPB was established through House Bill 2009.

Earlier in her career, as director of public health in Boston, Shirley was responsible for all preventive and community-based health services. Following the merger of Boston’s public hospital with Boston University’s medical center, she became the interim Commissioner of the newly formed Boston Public Health Commission. In this role, she had executive responsibility for the establishment, design, and organization of the new public health authority in Boston.

Shirley received a master’s in public health from Boston University School of Medicine and a master’s degree in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Community and professional activities include membership on the Board of CareOregon, a managed care Medicaid plan for Oregon; Community Health Partnerships; Center for Women’s Health; the Public Health Foundation; North by Northeast Community and the Portland /Multnomah County Sustainable Development Commission. She is an adjunct faculty member at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) School of Medicine.

Multnomah County Health Department, Oregon’s largest local public health agency, serves a population of more than 710,000 and works to assure, promote and protect the health of the people of Multnomah County.

The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) represents the nation's 2,800 local governmental health departments. These city, county, metropolitan, district, and tribal departments work every day to protect and promote health and well-being for all people in their communities.

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Lillian Shirley headshot

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