Houston health executive to lead Washington’s Department of Health
Gov. Jay Inslee named Dr. Umair Shah the new Secretary of the state Department of Health at a news conference Tuesday morning.
Shah is currently the executive director and local health authority for Harris County Public Health in Texas. Houston is the seat of Harrison County
Shah has led the nationally accredited Harris County Public Health (HCPH) for seven years, managing 700 public health staff serving the 4.7 million residents in the nation’s third largest county. HCPH was recognized nationally as the Local Health Department of the Year in 2016.
Before working for Harris County, he was chief medical officer of Galveston County Health District and served as an emergency department physician at Houston’s DeBakey VA Hospital for over 20 years.
“I’m a strong proponent of public health,” Dr. Shah said at the virtual news conference.
Inslee’s announcement also gave him the chance to issue a warm thank you to departing DOH Secretary, Dr. John Wiesman. After announcing his planned departure in February (before the COVID-19 pandemic), Wiesman stayed on in Washington as the state dug in to battle the health crisis.
“We’re gonna miss John Wiesman,” Inslee said. “His work during this pandemic has been just exceptional. As you know we have kept the pandemic infection rates below 40-45 other states, that’s due in large part to John’s consistent leadership.
“Last February, he announced he was going to take the position at (the University of) North Carolina, his alma mater, and work in the Gillings School of Global Public Health. ... He told us that before we knew how bad things would get and the fact he’s stayed with us throughout this, it is appreciated.”
The transition comes as COVID-19 rates continue to accelerate around the nation and officials put in place restrictions as the holiday season looms.
Inslee said it is about getting ahead of a dangerous curve in Washington to avoid flooding hospitals with seriously ill COVID-19 patients and putting many other health procedures at risk.
“There’s a train coming our way, we’re on the tracks.” Inslee said.
“”We’ve gotta get out of that danger zone. It will be too late if we wait. You’re going to find some states that are late to the game, they’ve waited months sometimes. Now they’re finally starting to suggest wearing masks but while they’ve waited, thousands of people have died. We’ve gotta get ahead of this curve.”
Shah said he has seen the progress that Gov. Inslee and the team in Washington have made against COVID, despite logging the first cases in the U.S.
“There are challenges throughout the pandemic for everyone,” Dr. Shah said. “It’s not just any particular community or a particular state, this is a global phenomenon. Unfortunately there are always things you can do better, there’s always things we can impress upon. ...
“This should not be a political football, this should be all of us together,”he said. “The enemy is the virus.”
This story was originally published November 17, 2020 at 1:18 PM.
