To the editor:

The District Advisory Committee appoints members to the Jefferson County Health Board. In 2019, I was appointed to an open seat on the Jefferson County board. There were two seats available at that time–an open five-year term and a one-year unexpired term. I was appointed to the one-year term while a man was appointed to the five-year term. At the end of my one-year term, I applied for reappointment to the seat for a five-year term. A man was appointed to that seat for the five-year term. Since that time, two men who were appointed to unexpired terms were re-appointed to five-year terms on the board. I am an experienced registered nurse with a PhD in nursing and extensive communicable disease and public health knowledge. I attended every meeting and was an active member of the board during the year in which I served. Why were men reappointed to full terms at the completion of unexpired terms, but I was not reappointed to a full term?

Prior to 2018 there was never a female on the health board to my knowledge. A woman was appointed in 2018, and I was appointed in 2019, both to unexpired terms. There has not been a female on the board since the end of March 2020. I have been vocal about the fact that 50 percent of the population of Jefferson County is female, and there are no female board members to advocate for the unique health needs of females in our county.

There were six applicants for the recent board seat — five women and a man who had been appointed to an unexpired term. The five women are all highly qualified professionals. Only the man had letters of support submitted as we were not told that we could submit these letters.

The man was reappointed to a five-year term on the board, which is no surprise to me. When speaking to a member of the health board after the DAC meeting, I stated that I believe that we should have women on the board. This man said “there are a lot of women working at the health department.” I can only assume that this man believes that women should be workers, but not leaders. The all-male health board contains a doctor who believes he understands the unique health concerns of women and a man who believes that women should only be in subservient positions.

As I tell this story to friends and acquaintances, I have heard the words discrimination and misogyny. I will leave you to make up your own mind about the composition of the health board and the manner in which the vacant seats are filled.

I believe that female applicants for the health board shows that these women believe that we should have female representation on the health board. I hope that women will continue to apply for seats on the health board and eventually the females of Jefferson County will have input on the health of our county.

Michalene King

Wintersville