West Virginia’s state health officer has stepped down, according to the West Virginia Department of Health.
Dr. Matthew Christiansen’s last day in that role was Friday, according to an announcement by the state agency.
“I am incredibly proud of the work we have done in rebuilding public health after the pandemic, and I plan to bring the lessons I’ve learned here to my work going forward,” Christiansen said in a statement distributed by the agency.
“Public health staff are unsung heroes who keep us healthy, and they deserve our respect and thanks every single day.”
Christiansen also serves on the board of directors for the West Virginia First Foundation that was created to use millions of dollars of opioid litigation settlement money to alleviate addiction problems in West Virginia. That is an elected position representing a region of the state, and Christiansen said in an email that his resignation as public health officer does not affect his service in that role.
Christiansen was named to the public health officer role at the start of 2023. He replaced Dr. Ayne Amjad, who announced in October 2022 that she was stepping down and then continued in an advisory role.
At the time, he was already serving as the director of the state’s Office of Drug Control Policy, starting in late 2020. Dr. Stephen Loyd was appointed as his successor in that position earlier this summer.
Prior to his work with state government, Christiansen was active in primary care and addiction treatment across the lifespan. He earned his medical degree and master of public health degree from Marshall University.
State officials said Christiansen focused his tenure as state health officer on rebuilding relationships by visiting all 48 local health departments and launching monthly engagement calls for diverse sets of participants in the state’s public health work to better coordinate activities across the state.
State officials said he spearheaded initiatives that included establishing outcome measures for every office and division within the Bureau for Public Health, launching the state’s first anti-vaping campaign targeting youth, restructuring the fatality-mortality review team process, coordinating support for local health departments, and overseeing development of evaluation standards for local health services among other significant projects.
“I would like to thank Dr. Christiansen for his time serving as state health officer,” said Sherri Young, cabinet secretary for the state Department of Health. “We wish him nothing but the best as he explores new opportunities.”