Coronavirus Pandemic: Governor praises outgoing state health director Amy Acton

COLUMBUS — Dr. Amy Acton’s departure from her leadership post at the Ohio Department of Health brought swift reaction from both supporters and critics.

Gov. Mike DeWine had nothing but praise for Acton, who became health director in February 2019 and served for 16 months.

“I will always believe and know that many, many lives have been saved because of the advice that I have received from her and the great work that she did,” DeWine said Thursday as he announced her resignation, effective immediately.

Thursday night, Dayton-area resident Doug Hurley focused his assessment of the state’s former top medical official on how her handling of the coronavirus pandemic affected the state’s economy.

Hurley, who told News Center 7′s Monica Castro he was fine with Acton’s resignation, added, "she’s pretty much one of the number-one reasons why we’re number three on the economy down hill for Ohio. The economy went, like, to the tanks. I’ve had plenty of people lose their jobs. Businesses are shutting down.

“They were making calls when they didn’t have enough information about what they were talking about,” Hurley said.

Acton said the timing was right for her departure, given the recent reopening of the state’s economy and the long hours she had been putting in as director.

“This is something that I have been struggling with for the last couple of months in my role actually. My answer has been to get up at four and do some reading and catch up and go to bed way, way, way into the night,” she said.

The news of her resignation caught most people off guard. The Amy Acton Fan Club Facebook page had mostly tributes to her, sprinkled with some criticism. Among the comments from fans were statements such as: ”Thank you for all of your hard work, Dr. Acton. You are appreciated and will be missed.”

Thursday night, Jasmine Brown of Kettering told Castro, “We were really, really shocked because we are used to seeing her face and hearing her voice.”

The Minority Leader of the Ohio House, Rep. Emilia Strong Sykes, praised Acton for her role in Ohio’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis, saying she had done “an exceptional job leading this state during an incredibly difficult time.”

When Acton and Gov. DeWine shut down the state’s economy in mid-March in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus, the governor and health director were targeted by protesters. People even demonstrated outside Acton’s home in the Columbus suburb of Bexley. Many of the verbal attacks against Acton and criticisms on social media were personal. Even some conservative state lawmakers were involved in the calls in early April for Acton to resign or be fired.

Rep. Sykes said, “Having anti-Semitic insults being hurled at her by elected officials and protesters camped out on her family’s lawn must have been upsetting.”

Within hours after the governor announced Acton’s resignation, one of her biggest critics in the Miami Valley, Rep. Nino Vitale, R- Urbana, posted a photo on his Facebook page of Acton and DeWine with the headline: “Breaking News: Dr. Amy Acton resigns as state health director amid pandemic.”

Above the headline, Vitale said, “I am hearing she is still on the tax payer dime but Actin’ Acton has resigned as Health Director. I say NOT good enough! I down and 2 to go of the Terrible Tyrannical Trio!” That apparently is a reference to the trio Vitale had harshly criticized in the past, including Acton, Gov. DeWine and Lt. Gov Jon Husted for their roles in shutting down the state’s economy.

DeWine has named an interim health director and said Acton will continue as a top adviser on medical issues.

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