Oct 26
Amy Acton, M.D. (’90), M.P.H., to discuss adaptive leadership at next VITALS
Amy Acton, M.D. (’90), M.P.H., joins VITALS | Visionary Health Leadership in Action at noon, Thursday, Nov. 2, in person in Watanakunakorn Auditorium and via Zoom. Lunch will be provided for in-person attendees.
Dr. Acton will focus her remarks on adaptive leadership and lessons learned in her role as the director of the Ohio Department of Health and as cabinet member and advisor to the Governor of Ohio during an unprecedented crisis in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
VITALS is a monthly health leadership series supported by University Hospitals.
About Amy Acton, M.D., M.P.H.
Dr. Acton is a physician and community leader who has spent over 30 years pursuing her passion for public health and wellness. She is in private practice in preventive medicine and public health. Dr. Acton recently began hosting reports, titled Health, Hope and Healing, on WKYC-TV3 in Cleveland, Ohio, to provide context and science to health issues.
Dr. Acton’s widely acclaimed leadership and inspiring guidance was seen in daily news conferences as COVID exploded in the spring of 2020, earning her a Profile in COVID Courage Award from the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation in 2021. In 2022 she was named Woman of the Year for Ohio by USA Today for the significant impact she has had. Dr. Acton has also been featured in The New York Times, Glamour and most recently Smithsonian Magazine. Locally, Dr. Acton received The Columbus Foundation’s 2020 Spirit of Columbus Award and is a recipient of Ohio State University’s highest alumni honor – The Ohio State Alumni Medalist Award.
In 2020, Dr. Acton received an honorary degree from NEOMED’s Board of Trustees, in recognition of accomplishments including her service as the public face – and to many, the guiding spirit – of Ohio medical leadership in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A native of Youngstown, Dr. Acton received her master’s degree in public health from The Ohio State University and her medical degree from NEOMED. She completed internships in pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City and at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and residency in preventive medicine at OSU.
Dr. Acton has taught in the OSU College of Medicine and Public Health and the Center for Injury Research and Policy at the Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. She previously directed Project L.O.V.E. in Columbus, an initiative of local hospitals to Love Our Kids, Vaccinate Early. She also worked for the Columbus Foundation as a community research and grants management officer. Under her leadership as state health director, Ohio created the first ODH deputy director position focused on mobilizing federal and state resources to promote health equity, inclusion and opportunity for all Ohioans.
Every month through VITALS, NEOMED gives health care thought leaders 17 minutes — the average duration of a physician-patient visit — to engage medical professionals and students on any of the VITALS topics: Value-based, Innovation, Technology, Advocacy, Leadership, Service.
