Dr. Alan Melnick announces retirement as Clark County’s Public Health Director

Dr. Alan Melnick, who led Clark County Public Health through the COVID-19 pandemic and one of the largest measles outbreaks in recent state history, will retire in August, according to the agency.

Melnick is not expected to return to the office prior to his retirement date of Aug. 25, said Marissa Armstrong, communications manager for Public Health.

“Dr. Melnick has decided to retire later in August and is currently taking some much-deserved time off,” Armstrong said in an email.

Clark County Manger Kathleen Otto sent an email to staff announcing Melnick’s retirement that included a statement from him.

“I am proud of the work Public Health has done over the years supporting the community,” he said. “It has been a true pleasure working with everyone, and I look forward to following Public Health’s positive impact in Clark County in the future.”

Melnick has been with Clark County Public Health since 2006, when he began as the county’s health officer. After the health department consolidated the director and health officer positions in 2013, he assumed the combined role and has led the department since.

As director of Clark County Public Health, Melnick has worked with the Clark County Board of Health on public health policy. He is responsible for ensuring the delivery of services and programs under the department.

During his tenure, Melnick led Clark County Public Health through some of the region’s most significant public health emergencies, including the COVID-19 pandemic, declining vaccination rates and recurring measles outbreaks.

Clark County experienced a severe, monthslong measles outbreak in 2019 that totaled 71 cases and cost about $3.4 million to fight, according to a 2021 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Clark County Public Health, Public Health Seattle and the Washington State Department of Health. The local outbreak predominantly affected children — 93 percent of cases were in children 1 to 18 years old — and people who were not immunized. One person was hospitalized.

Staff from the state’s Department of Health, volunteers with the Medical Reserve Corps and three CDC staffers, as well as partners from other health departments and local volunteers, helped respond to the outbreak, according to Clark County Public Health. Responders worked 19,000 hours on the measles outbreak, and Public Health staff clocked 12,684 hours.

A year later, Clark County’s first COVID-19 case was confirmed.

A total of 114,000 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Clark County from January 2020 to July 2023, according to data from the CDC. The total number of people who have died from COVID-19 in Clark County surpassed 1,000, according to the data.

Clark County Public Health led the charge in letting residents know where to get tested, tracked data, chronicled the effects of long COVID and helped people get vaccinated against the infectious disease.

Melnick has also advocated for the department to address racism as a public health crisis, which led to a 2020 Board of Health resolution formally acknowledging that systemic racism creates health disparities and inequities for people of color.

Melnick is an associate professor at the Oregon Health & Science University-Portland State University School of Public Health and adjunct associate professor at OHSU School of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine. He serves on the Clark County Medical Society Board and the PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center Community Health Board and Executive Committee, among other boards, according to Clark County Public Health’s website.