HJAR May/Jun 2020

DIALOGUE 10 MAY / JUN 2020 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS   In March 2020, Dr. Dillaha was named the state epidemiologist. This is in addition to her role as medical director for immunizations since November 2013, and medical director for outbreak response since August 2019. Her charge in the role of state epidemiologist is to provide leadership and guidance for addressing Arkansas’s most pressing infectious diseases, including COVID-19. She is also charged with improving Arkansas’s immunization rates, particularly among adults. She is uniquely prepared for that role as a physician with specialty training in internal medicine and subspecialty training in infectious diseases and in geriatric medicine. She also serves on Immunize AR Board of Directors. Immunize AR is Arkansas’s statewide immunization coalition. Under her leadership, low health literacy has been recognized as an important public health problem in Arkansas, and the health department has integrated health literacy into its strategic plan. In April 2013, Dr. Dillaha became the medical advisor for health literacy at the health department. In January 2015, Dr. Dillaha began serving on the Medicine’s Roundtable on Health Literacy of the National Academies of Science, Engineering & Medicine. Prior to her current roles, Dr. Dillaha served as the special advisor for strategic initiatives in the office of the director from June 2010 to April 2013, and director of the Center for Health Advancement from August 2005 to June 2010 at the Arkansas Department of Health.