After 31 years as a Maryland Department of Health employee, with the past
9 years at the Harford County Health Department, Health Officer Dr. Russell Moy will retire on September 1, 2020.
Dr. Moy came to Harford County from MDH headquarters in 2011 as Deputy Health Officer. One of his greatest accomplishments was dedicating his efforts to ensuring that the Harford County Health Department become a nationally accredited health department. At the time of receiving national accreditation in 2015, Harford County was one of 67 governmental public health departments to become accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board. Over 3,000 health departments qualified for this achievement. For Dr. Moy, being awarded national accreditation validated the health department’s commitment to the health of Harford County.
During Dr. Moy’s tenure as Health Officer, he is attributed to many key public health services in Harford County. Notable projects and accomplishments include the Klein Family Harford Crisis Center, to help combat substance use and increase access to behavioral health needs; MEGAN’s Place, to help reduce the number of substance-exposed newborns in the county; development of the health department’s Upstream Project,
designed to address barriers to care posed by social determinants of health, such as care coordination and harm reduction strategies; and the establishment of the health department’s Wraparound Services, providing a
comprehensive plan of care for residents in need of achieving optimal health and overall well-being.
Over the past few months, Dr. Moy has played an integral role in helping reduce the spread of COVID-19 in Harford County. His calm, data-driven approach has kept the county informed and equipped to make difficult
decisions that may arise later this fall.
Deputy Health Officer, Marcy Austin, will resume the position of Acting Health Officer until Moy’s position is permanently filled. Andrea Pappas, formally the Director of Behavioral Health, will resume the acting role as
Deputy Health Officer.
