NEW ORLEANS – Mayor Landrieu announced Marsha Broussard, MPH, DrPH, will serve as the City’s Director of Health. In this capacity, Dr. Broussard will oversee the department’s operations and initiatives. Dr. Broussard will start Monday, Dec. 5.
“I want to congratulate Dr. Broussard on her position,” Mayor Landrieu said. “I am confident that Dr. Broussard’s experience in public health and in schools will allow her to lead the New Orleans Health Department to continue to make the city a healthier place to live and play.”
Dr. Broussard was employed at the Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI) from July 2007 to September 2016. While she was Director of the School and Adolescent Health Portfolio, she generated over $20 million in funding to support community collaborations, establishing the School Health Connection program and the 4Real Health Program. These programs aimed to support vulnerable students in successful educational completion, focusing on eliminating health barriers that interrupt education including unplanned pregnancies.
Dr. Broussard said, “As Health Director, I am looking forward to continuing the work of this administration towards elevating the holistic health of our families and youth. The New Orleans Health Department has already initiated a number of effective policies and programs to improve community health and wellness by increasing opportunities for recreation and physical activity, reducing community violence and eliminating health barriers that prevent youths' success in school. I will continue to pursue effective partnerships to promote these objectives and seek further alliances that further address the societal inequities that undergird poor health outcomes.”
Dr. Broussard has prioritized working with schools to adopt policies and practices to expand and enhance age-appropriate, medically-accurate comprehensive sexual education. Dr. Broussard’s former public health practices were associated with reducing infant mortality in Orleans Parish, and expanding community-based primary health care and building rural health capacity statewide. Dr. Broussard earned an A.B. in Anthropology from Stanford University (1978), a Masters of Public Health from the University of Michigan (1983), and a Doctor of Public Health degree from Tulane University, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine (2013).
The New Orleans Health Department's mission is to protect, promote and improve the health of all where we live, learn, work and play. During the Landrieu Administration, the Health Department has transformed from providing direct care services to working to build a culture of health through population health initiatives. The New Orleans Health Department became one of the first 50 health departments in the country to be fully accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board. Other key accomplishments include the successful implementation of the City’s smoke-free ordinance, national recognition of the FitNOLA initiative as a model for collective impact and collaboration of community partners, creation of the City’s coordinated public safety response to domestic violence—the Blueprint for Safety and the launch of the public health education program which aims to reduce level of harmful sounds in the environment.
Jeffrey Elder, M.D., who serves as the City’s Director of Emergency Medical Services (NOEMS), has served as the Interim Director of Health. In July 2016, former City Health Director Charlotte Parent left City Hall to become the Assistant Vice President of Community Affairs and Network Navigation for Louisiana-based, non-for-profit healthcare system LCMC Health. Parent joined the New Orleans Health Department in June 2007 and had served as the Director of Health since January 2014.
