Liberty, NY – Sullivan County’s new Public Health Director, Dr. Jessie Moore, today joined the team at the Department of Public Health, but she’s long been familiar with the County’s health challenges and landscape.
“I’ve been overseeing 26 service lines at Garnet Health for the past year and a half,” she related of her role there as Physician Liaison, maintaining close relationships with doctors, urgent care facilities, medical specialty groups and other healthcare organizations. “I had a great opportunity to research and understand Sullivan County in the way people access – and have access to – healthcare. I’ve also worked with key stakeholders on identifying where the needs and strengths are.”
Sullivan is very different, she added, from Orange County, which is where she has spent much of her career – first as an HIV/AIDS outreach worker in Newburgh and Middletown, then as the health education coordinator and youth program facilitator for Maternal-Infant Services Network in Central Valley, followed by nine years as an educator and senior director for Planned Parenthood in New Windsor.
“I’m from Orange County, but I live right along the border with Sullivan,” Moore said, referring to the Middletown home she shares with husband Greg and children Gregory, Clara and Leah. “Every job in my career has included working across county borders, and Sullivan County has always been a place I enjoy being!”
She’ll be spending far more time in Sullivan than ever before, since as Public Health Director her office will be in Liberty and her duties will include overseeing 60 staff, many of whom daily travel the County to provide services to residents, schools and organizations.
One of Moore’s passions, in fact, is meeting new faces and sharing her extensive knowledge of healthcare and healthy living. Possessing a doctorate in public health (Health Policy & Management) from New York Medical College’s School of Public Health, she is a Certified Health Educator Specialist via the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing.
Moore teaches at her alma mater as an adjunct assistant professor of public health, along with four other colleges – including Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine and SUNY Orange, both in Middletown.
“I’ve often brought in different representatives from Sullivan County to educate my students,” she affirmed. “I look at it as a key opportunity to give them as much community data as possible before they become doctors.”
In her role with Garnet Health, Moore relished a challenging but informative town hall-style meeting Garnet Health’s leadership team held earlier this year with Sullivan County residents.
“Often, Sullivan County residents are relying on primary care or urgent care providers to manage health issues that would be better managed by specialists,” she observed. “And they want services here, not just in Middletown.”
It’s her intent to follow through on that desire.
“I see the struggles, but I also see how many resources do exist here, a lot of which are being underutilized,” Moore said. “I’ve also been watching the County’s health numbers slowly improve. Seeing what Health & Human Services Commissioner John Liddle and his team have been doing, I wanted to be part of that.”
“I am very excited to add Dr. Moore to our team,” confirmed Liddle. “She brings an outstanding intellect and great passion for the three most important issues our Division focuses on to improve our community health: maternal/child health, substance use disorder prevention and treatment, and mental health.”
“I’d also like to thank the County Manager’s Office and the Legislature for recognizing the importance of investing in our public health leadership,” Liddle added. “Raising the salary grade for this position has allowed us to bring in a Doctor of Public Health with superior leadership experience to support a very hard-working team with a wide range of goals and responsibilities. Jessie’s leadership will accelerate improvements we have started to see in health outcomes in comparison to other counties around the state.”
“I welcome Dr. Moore to Sullivan County and look forward to her leading an already outstanding group of caring, community-minded professionals,” stated District 5 Legislator Cat Scott, who chairs the Legislature’s Health & Human Services Committee. “We have a lot of work ongoing and more to do to improve the health of this County, and I think Dr. Moore will hit the ground running.”
