State Health Official Retiring, May 30

State Epidemiologist and Health Officer Katrina Hedberg, M.D., M.P.H., is retiring. Hedberg drew on vast epidemiologic data to help Oregon respond to the opioid crisis, manage countless infectious disease outbreaks, develop chronic disease prevention strategies and understand the state’s aid-in-dying law. Hedberg will retire May 31 after 29 years at the Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division. She will remain at the division through the summer as acting state health officer and epidemiologist to help recruit her replacement. “I have been very fortunate in my career with the Oregon Public Health Division,” Hedberg said. “My work has been very gratifying, interesting, diverse, and has hopefully had an impact on improving the health of Oregonians.” Oregon Public Health Director Lillian Shirley, M.P.H., M.P.A., says Hedberg has become one of the most well-known and respected public health leaders in the state and the country. During her career, Hedberg has become a virtual encyclopedia on population health, chronic disease risk, injury epidemiology, substance use prevention, health statistics, acute and communicable diseases, and Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act, she said.