Gayle Brannon is the new Manager of the Whitfield County Health Department; however, she is certainly no stranger to this area or to public health.Mrs. Brannon most recently served the North Georgia Health District in Dalton as Assistant Director of Public Health Nursing and Clinical services and as Director of Public Health Nursing and Clinical services for the Northwest Georgia Health District based in Rome. In both positions she had oversight of the programmatic and financial operations of clinical programs key to public health services such as child health, adult health, immunizations, HIV services, cardiovascular disease prevention, WIC, tuberculosis, epidemiology, and pharmacy.
A 1981 graduate of Jacksonville State University, Mrs. Brannon’s nursing career began as Team Leader in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit at Hamilton Medical Center with subsequent administrative and clinical positions including: Nurse Manager of the Walker County Health Department, Public Health Nurse Specialist for both the Walker County Board of Health and the Chattooga County Board of Health, Quality Assurance Supervisor for North Georgia Home Health Agency in Fort Oglethorpe, and Health Occupations Instructor for the Walker County Board of Education.
In addition to her nursing degree, Mrs. Brannon is a graduate of Emory University’s Leadership Academy 2000 and of the Management Academy for Public Health at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 2001.
Mrs. Brannon appreciates how well established the health department is in Whitfield County. She plans to maintain the high level of services it offers, improve the visibility of the health department, and raise community awareness of available public health programs that are unique to the department.
The Whitfield County Health department has been able to offer services that are not typical to public health, largely due to extraordinarily supportive community partnerships. These unique services include primary care for adults and children, prenatal care, dental care for adults and children, and pharmaceutical assistance through the MedBank program.
When asked why she wanted to take on the challenge of managing the Whitfield County Health department, Mrs. Brannon said, “I felt my work experience would benefit public health here in Whitfield County, particularly during these times of economic downturn, because over the years, I have effectively and efficiently managed public health programs.”
“I am excited to be working with the excellent staff here and with our community partners as we highlight and expand services of the Whitfield County Health Department,” said Mrs. Brannon.
Mrs. Brannon is a native of Walker County and is married to Mike Brannon. They have two children, Jill and Dan, and a two year old granddaughter, Olivia.