On a snowy afternoon in early December, Summit County Health Commissioner Donna Skoda sat in a small office at the Summit County Public Health headquarters.
Skoda is retiring after leading the department since 2015.
“I’ve been in and out, in and out, so it’s been kind of crazy. I’m not used to being in and out,” Skoda said, chuckling.
Skoda got her start in public health as a dietician in the 1990s, she said. Her experiences, then, helped shape how she approaches all public health issues.
For example, she recalls working with a mother who was having trouble properly feeding her children. She was giving them chocolate-covered cherries.
“And I'm like, ‘No, no, no, no. When they're talking about fruits, they're talking about baby jar fruits,’” Skoda said. “It was just this the lack of knowledge just sort of smacked me in the face, and I thought, you know, we're telling folks things, but we're really not explaining or making sure they understand.”
Conversations like this in Skoda’s early career showed her the importance of communication and understanding -- skills that would be vital later on as health commissioner, she said.
Battling the opioid epidemic
In 2016, one year into her tenure, health officials saw a sudden, significant uptick in drug overdoses and deaths. Deaths averaged 8.7 per week, double the rate of the prior six months of that year, according to data from the health department.
That was the start of what is now known as the opioid epidemic.
“In that July, that kind of brought everything to light that yes, in fact, there were these additional street drugs; yes in fact, we were dealing with something very different. And so that was tough,” Skoda said.
Skoda led the department’s response through a combination of educational outreach and harm reduction efforts, she said.
County officials eventually sought accountability from whom they felt was the root of the problem: drug manufacturers. The county, in conjunction with dozens of municipalities, sued several companies for marketing and over-distributing opioids.
“Honestly, we never did it because we thought there were going to be tons of money in it. We did it because to stop bad behaviors, trying to get folks to stop overprescribing … opiates that would lead to street medications and street drugs,” Skoda said. “We were selected, luckily, as the bellwether.”
Skoda was instrumental in tackling the epidemic and securing the settlement, County Executive Ilene Shapiro said.
“Donna was literally there every single step of the way,” Shapiro said.
The case settled on the day the trial was set to begin. If it hadn’t, Skoda was prepared to testify, Shapiro added.
“Donna was the one that was going to be sitting there for what they anticipated to be six weeks as this trial went on. And we had that kind of confidence and that kind of trust in Donna,” Shapiro said.
Over time, overdose deaths decreased. About $45 million of the settlement is now being put toward a new health and safety endowment fund in the county.
“That launched us into a whole new world of of, shall I say, accountability,” Skoda added. “Substance use disorder is awful. I've often said if I had a wish departing my career, it would be to eliminate substance use disorder … I've seen it do so much harm to so many people.”
Navigating a global pandemic in Summit County
It wasn’t long after that another crisis hit the county, and the rest of the world: COVID-19.
Skoda was tasked with coordinating the health department’s response, which included contact tracing, testing and eventually vaccine distribution.
She also communicated with the media and residents about the state of the crisis and how to stay safe.
“The hardest part was just this unknown,” Skoda said. “But what we knew on our end was, we called people, and we could call one day and they were alive and dead the next. It was really hard on staff. It was hard.”
Skoda and Shapiro had frequent calls and press conferences.
Skoda was invaluable to managing the pandemic, Shapiro said, because of her leadership skills, knack for interpreting data and effective communication.
“It was a horrible lift for all of us, but if Donna hadn't been there, … it might have been insurmountable,” Shapiro said.
Incoming health commissioner Chris Barker also worked closely with Skoda on both crises in his previous role in emergency management. He called Skoda “dynamic.”
“I really appreciate her mentorship throughout my career here in public health and her leadership throughout very significant challenges that we've had in our county,” Barker said.
Skoda plans to stay busy
Barker and Shapiro both credited Skoda for helping Summit County Public Health to become a reputable organization among other local health departments.
“We're a very large organization. We do service a lot of individuals, a lot of stakeholders in our community, and Donna has really done a phenomenal job in making sure Summit County Public Health has been at the forefront,” Barker said.
Following in her footsteps won’t be an easy task, Barker added.
“That's the actually the most common term that I get from folks when I'm being introduced to them, is, ‘You have big shoes to fill.’ I definitely do,” Barker said.
When asked what she is most proud of, Skoda said Summit County Public Health is a solid organization with a great staff.
“We’ve been able to be a health district that could operate efficiently and effectively, and not have to worry about a lot of the other things that some health districts do - financial woes or not having political support, you know, being a target,” Skoda said. “We’ve had some real, what I consider, real luxuries that I'm very grateful for, that we have been able to have a great working environment.”
In her retirement, Skoda plans to stay busy. She enjoys gardening and rescuing pugs.
She plans to stay involved in public health in some capacity, she added.
“The busy-ness will be fine, but it’s just the commitment to give back. I have to feel as though I’m still giving back,” Skoda said.
She’s particularly concerned about childhood mental health in the county, as well as affordable housing. Many children and young adults have still not fully recovered from the ripple effects of remote learning and social distancing during the pandemic, she said.
“Kids suffer a lot, and we need to make sure that children are raised and are growing up in a supportive, nurturing environment and that they have a trusted adult in their life, whomever that might be,” Skoda added.
Skoda officially retires at the end of 2024.
