PLACERVILLE . INFO

The El Dorado Public Health Department is pleased to announce the appointment of Terri Stratton to the position of Division Manager of Public Health Preparedness. A public health professional since 1980, with a Masters of Public Health degree, Stratton will oversee bioterrorism and emergency preparedness efforts in the county as they relate to public health threats and emergencies, as well as communicable disease control for the county public health department.

Stratton comes at a time when county public health efforts related to communicable disease control will be transitioning from direct patient services to a population focused disease reduction and prevention focus. “This presents a unique opportunity for the El Dorado County Public Health Department to refocus our efforts on not only treating conditions such as sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis and hepatitis but in reducing and preventing cases from ever occurring,” said Gayle Erbe-Hamlin, Public Health Director. 

With a strong background in public health emergency preparedness, Stratton will also be instrumental in guiding and sharpening preparations for the county’s public health response to an emergency such as a bioterrorism event, pandemic influenza or even to natural disasters.

Prior to coming to the Public Health Department, Stratton was a senior level health manager with the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) where she was employed for many years. With experience in varied program areas such as HIV/AIDS, tobacco control, women’s health, and violence prevention, Stratton has spent the last 5 ½ years in public health emergency preparedness managing risk communication and professional training statewide for CDPH.

Stratton’s career in the field of public health has included many noteworthy accomplishments. She was instrumental at the state level in guiding counties with their efforts to ban smoking in public places, served as program manager for the state’s first ever public education campaign on HIV/AIDS prevention, and provided oversight of the development of the award winning Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication Tool Kit for public health departments. She has co-authored several books, been published in national public health journals, and served in a leadership role of public health organizations such as the American Public Health Association. 

Stratton can be reached at terri.stratton@edcgov.us.