Dr. Young’s new opportunity will take her to CAMC

Kanawha-Charleston Health Department Health Officer and CEO Dr. Sherri Young has announced she is leaving her position for a new opportunity.

Starting in August, Young will be the new Associate Chief Medical Officer at Charleston Area Medical Center for the West Virginia Health Network, an opportunity Young said she couldn’t turn down. Young said the last 18 months prepared her for her new role.

“There were so many uncertainties, that is the interesting thing about it,” Young said. “I take that for granted sometimes, that all we know about COVID because we spent the last 18 months studying it.”

Young’s resume is impressive as she helped lead county-wide efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and this year, receiving national recognition. She also led efforts in Kanawha County becoming the first in the state to test long-term care facility patients for COVID to help decrease the chance of outbreaks earlier in the pandemic. Young also helped execute plans for mass testing, and later mass vaccination, in the county, with help from the Kanawha County Emergency Ambulance Authority.

“It’s taking a lot of stamina, it’s been a lot of long days, long hours, hundred-hour weeks and not a lot of time off, but I’m not alone and that there are a lot of people who have only had four or five days off in the last 18 months,” Young said.

From the outside looking in, it’s not easy to see where Young gets her motivation and drive to keep going, but she can pinpoint it.

A few years ago Young’s home exploded in the middle of the night. Her and her family barely made it out alive. From that moment on, Young said she knew she would dedicate her life to others.

“Everything I went through with the explosion and with the pandemic, which has been tough, but oh my gosh if someone has ever given me a purpose this was it,” Young said.

Young will be the interim Health Officer at the health department until a new executive director and health officer is named.

“When I became the Executive Director and Chief Health Officer of the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department, I never dreamed we would be faced with a pandemic that would affect the entire world,” Young said in a news release. “We have lost so many lives to this devastating situation. I believe I have done everything I can to lead the Health Department through the pandemic and move it forward successfully. I have enjoyed my time with the Health Department and my focus on saving lives. I was presented with an opportunity that I could not pass up, and for that reason, I am leaving my position. I will remain on as Interim Chief Health Officer while the Board conducts a search for a new Health Officer.”

Young started working for the health department in Kanawha County on July 1, 2019 with a focus on immunizing children with school-required vaccinations.