Atchison appointed to State Board of Health
State Hygienic Laboratory Director Christopher Atchison
The 11-member board is the policymaking body for the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH). Its responsibilities include making recommendations about public health, hygiene and sanitation to the governor, General Assembly and director of IDPH. The board also may adopt, promulgate, amend and repeal rules and regulations.
The Board of Health is Atchison’s third gubernatorial appointment in his 32 years of public health service. In 1987, Illinois Gov. Jim Thompson chose him as the assistant director to the Illinois Department of Public Health, and in 1991, Gov. Terry Branstad appointed him as the director of the Iowa Department of Public Health where he served until 1999.
