Dr. Betsey Tilson steps down as North Carolina's State Health Director after nearly 8 years
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- After more than seven years as North Carolina's State Health Director, Dr. Betsey Tilson is stepping down.
Tilson led the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) for over seven years but became a household name during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As part of the COVID-19 Task Force, Tilson was always front and center leading the response. She said she learned several lessons from the pandemic response.
"One of the things that made it so challenging is it was new," Tilson said. "We didn't have the information we needed, and it was continuing to evolve and change. What we tried to do was be really transparent in our proactive communication. Second is the critical nature of partnerships. DHHS and the state can never do anything on its own. We really wanted to lean into our federal, state, and local partnerships, making sure we had those trusted messages on the ground and those really, really close partnerships. That infrastructure that was set up during COVID has helped with some of our other major initiatives, like Medicaid expansion."
Medicaid expansion is an accomplishment Tilson said she is very proud of as she steps down from her role.
"Almost 620,000 people now have access to health insurance and high-quality clinical care," she said.
ALSO SEE: Ralegh, the City of Oaks, considered best performing large city in US
Tilson has also served as state health director and chief medical officer for several years during Gov. Roy Cooper's administration.
Here are what she considers her three greatest accomplishments during that time:
"The three main things I really leaned into in a proactive way are, one, thinking about whole-person health, making sure that we were helping improve the health and well-being of people," Tilson said. "That means meeting all of those factors that influence health. So access to high-quality medical care is critically important. That's why Medicaid expansion was so important."
The other place I really leaned in on is speaking about reproductive health and access to contraception. Fifty percent of pregnancies are unintended, and that can increase the risk for moms and babies. So we wanted to be sure that people have increased access to contraception.
Finally, thinking about violence, particularly gun violence, as a public health as well as a public safety issue has led us to establish the Office of Violence Prevention."
Tilson also reflected on the state's response to natural disasters.
"We've had multiple, with Hurricane Helene being the most recent and one of the most devastating ones we needed to react to," she said.
WATCH: Full Interview with Dr. Tilson
As a new administration begins, Tilson outlined a few challenges ahead.
"I think with climate change, we're going to see more severe storms, more frequent storms. So really leaning into that preparedness and thinking through how we support our communities is going to be a really important issue going forward," she said. "Second, behavioral health - all aspects of behavioral health - is something we've really leaned into in this administration and will need to continue as well. That includes opioids and substance use disorder.
"The third piece we really need to think about is our young families and our young children. I worry about our child care cliff and making sure that our early childhood education is firmed up."
Summing up her time at the helm, Tilson reflected on her service.
"I would say first and foremost, it's an incredible privilege and honor to really have the ability to serve the people in North Carolina in so many different ways. So, a huge learning opportunity, very challenging at some times, and very busy, but I always felt that it was a great honor and privilege to be in the seat, to be able to really make decisions and put into place programs that could help people of the state," she said.
Tilson said she plans to take some time to rest, reflect, and figure out what's next, but she will continue to work in public service. In the meantime, Dr. Kelly Kimple, acting director of the Division of Public Health, will serve as the interim state health director and chief medical officer.
Tilson's last day is on Friday, Jan. 17.
