{"id":18871,"date":"2026-07-06T12:02:39","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T16:02:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/?page_id=18871"},"modified":"2026-07-06T12:02:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T16:02:56","slug":"richmond-and-henrico-health-districts-announce-dr-melissa-viray-as-acting-health-director","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/richmond-and-henrico-health-districts-announce-dr-melissa-viray-as-acting-health-director\/","title":{"rendered":"Richmond and Henrico Health Districts Announce Dr. Melissa Viray as Acting Health Director"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">July\u00a06,\u00a02026<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;469777462&quot;:[10620],&quot;469777927&quot;:[0],&quot;469777928&quot;:[4]}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Media Contact<\/span><\/b><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">:\u00a0<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Bryan Hooten, 804-807-1727,\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"mailto:bryan.hooten@vdh.virginia.gov\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">bryan.hooten@vdh.virginia.gov<\/span><\/a><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Richmond and Henrico Health Districts Announce<br \/>\n<\/span><\/b><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Dr. Melissa Viray as Acting\u00a0Health\u00a0Director<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:2,&quot;335551620&quot;:2,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:2,&quot;335551620&quot;:2,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">RICHMOND, Va.<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u00a0\u2013\u00a0The Richmond and Henrico Health Districts\u00a0(RHHD)\u00a0announce that Deputy Director Melissa Viray, M.D.,\u00a0is\u00a0serving\u00a0as\u00a0acting\u00a0health\u00a0director.\u00a0Dr.\u00a0Viray\u00a0steps in for\u00a0Elaine Perry<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">,\u00a0<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">M.D.,<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u00a0<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">who\u00a0now serves\u00a0as\u00a0chief\u00a0deputy\u00a0commissioner\u00a0for Community Health Services.\u00a0Dr. Perry joined RHHD as\u00a0health\u00a0director in July 2022\u00a0and became Central Region health director in Oct. 2024.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:240,&quot;335559739&quot;:240,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Dr. Viray\u00a0became\u00a0RHHD\u2019s deputy director\u00a0in\u00a0March\u00a02017 and served as\u00a0acting\u00a0director for 18 months during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to RHHD, she was the\u00a0deputy\u00a0state\u00a0epidemiologist for the Hawaii Department of Health and previously worked at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as an\u00a0epidemic\u00a0intelligence\u00a0service\u00a0officer.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335557856&quot;:16777215,&quot;335559738&quot;:160,&quot;335559739&quot;:160}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Dr. Viray completed her adult infectious diseases fellowship at Washington University, her internal medicine residency at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, and her medical education at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335557856&quot;:16777215,&quot;335559738&quot;:160,&quot;335559739&quot;:160}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span data-contrast=\"none\"># # #<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:2,&quot;335551620&quot;:2,&quot;335557856&quot;:16777215,&quot;335559738&quot;:240,&quot;335559739&quot;:360,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>July\u00a06,\u00a02026\u00a0 Media Contact:\u00a0Bryan Hooten, 804-807-1727,\u00a0bryan.hooten@vdh.virginia.gov\u00a0 Richmond and Henrico Health Districts Announce Dr. Melissa Viray as Acting\u00a0Health\u00a0Director\u00a0 \u00a0RICHMOND, Va.\u00a0\u2013\u00a0The Richmond and Henrico Health Districts\u00a0(RHHD)\u00a0announce that Deputy Director Melissa Viray, M.D.,\u00a0is\u00a0serving\u00a0as\u00a0acting\u00a0health\u00a0director.\u00a0Dr.\u00a0Viray\u00a0steps in for\u00a0Elaine Perry,\u00a0M.D.,\u00a0who\u00a0now serves\u00a0as\u00a0chief\u00a0deputy\u00a0commissioner\u00a0for Community Health Services.\u00a0Dr. Perry joined RHHD as\u00a0health\u00a0director in July 2022\u00a0and became Central Region health director in Oct. 2024.\u00a0 Dr. Viray\u00a0became\u00a0RHHD\u2019s deputy director\u00a0in\u00a0March\u00a02017 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":258,"featured_media":0,"parent":16853,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[196,957,682],"class_list":["post-18871","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","tag-dr-elaine-perry","tag-dr-melissa-viray","tag-richmond-and-henrico-health-districts"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - 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