September 2, 2011
Cumberland Plateau Health District Director Dr. John J. Dreyzehner accepts position as Tennessee State Health Commissioner
(Richmond, Va.) – John J. Dreyzehner, MD, MPH, FACOEM, will leave the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) after nine years of service to become Tennessee’s State Health Commissioner, effective September 16, 2011.
“I and every employee of the Virginia Department of Health congratulate Dr. Dreyzehner on this appointment and thank him for his many contributions to improve the health of residents of the Cumberland Plateau and of the Commonwealth of Virginia,” said Health Commissioner Karen Remley, MD, MBA, FAAP. “John has been a trusted partner in his local community around all issues and his leadership in bringing local and regional communities together is one of his strengths. Although John will be missed, I expect he and I will continue to work together, now on a state-to-state basis.”
Since 2002 Dr. Dreyzehner has served as director of the Cumberland Plateau Health District in southwest Virginia (Buchanan, Dickenson, Russell and Tazewell counties). From 2006 to 2008 he served concurrently as acting director of the Lenowisco Health District (Lee, Scott and Wise counties and the City of Norton).
“I appreciate Dr. Remley’s gracious warm wishes, it has been an honor and privilege to serve with my VDH colleagues under her leadership and that of Deputy Commissioner Jeff Lake and the extraordinary, dedicated and diverse innovators, leaders, doers and thinkers that I have learned so much from at all levels of the Virginia Department of Health,” said Dr. Dreyzehner. “It has long been my privilege and necessity to collaborate across the border into Tennessee and I now look forward to being able to reach across that same border to collaborate with my friends in Virginia on health improvement and population health challenges common to the southeastern part of our nation.”
Dr. Dreyzehner began his career in medicine in 1989 as a United States Air Force flight surgeon. He came to southwest Virginia in 1997 to practice occupational medicine and joined VDH in 2002.
After receiving his MD from the University of Illinois and MPH from the University of Utah, Dr. Dreyzehner was certified by the American Board of Preventive Medicine in 1999 and named a Fellow of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine in 2000. He holds faculty appointments to the University of Virginia and East Tennessee State University and is licensed to practice medicine in Virginia and Tennessee.
Dr. Dreyzehner also has served with distinction on a number of health advisory and policy boards, including the Appalachian Regional Commission’s Medical Policy Advisory Council, National Association of City and County Health Officials, CareSpark, Inc., Southwest Virginia Health Facilities Authority, One Care, SW Graduate Medical Education Consortium, Community Health Improvement Partnership and the Health Planning Agency of SW Virginia.