Public health work never ends.
Perhaps no one knows this better than Jim Murphy. After more than 30 years with the Department of Health and Human Services – where he served as an epidemiologist and Communicable Disease Control and Prevention Bureau Chief – Murphy is returning to the field, just 18 months after his retirement in June of 2021.
Why? Murphy said if his skill set can be of use he’s willing to get back to work, serving part-time as Jefferson County’s health officer. Murphy was appointed by the Jefferson County Commissioners on Jan. 24 with contingency that county attorney Steve Haddon approve the recommendation letter from DPHHS. Murphy signed the one-year contract on Feb. 7.
A longtime Jefferson County resident and former Montana Developmental Center employee,where he started as an aide to clients, Murphy said he’s always had an affinity for the area and looks forward to using his experience and knowledge to help the health department, a local entity he believes in and said the people of Jefferson County are lucky to have.
“While I was Bureau Chief I was involved with a lot of state level activities, that included working with a lot of different boards of health to help them understand rights and responsibilities of public health,” said Murphy. “I worked very closely with all the county health departments. I’ve got to say we’ve got a really strong team here. If they can retain the group they have they will be a nice, stable, functional group that can do a lot of things.”
Murphy had a lot of responsibilities during the pandemic. As Bureau Chief, he oversaw a team of close to 50 people (85 during the coronavirus pandemic), covering five different public health sections, ranging from STD/HIV, immunization, public health emergency preparedness, general communicable disease, and food and consumer safety. The role he valued the most, however, was working with each and every county’s public health department. It is the local health departments, he said, that are on the front lines, and it was his goal to make their job easier.
This, of course, is easier said than done. He considers COVID the greatest challenge he faced during his three decades with DPHHS, greater than a Hepatitis B outbreak in 1998, fatal human rabies cases and the HIV/AIDS crisis in the early 90’s. With the exception of AIDS, many of the outbreaks Murphy dealt with pre-COVID lasted only weeks or months.
“COVID came here and just didn’t leave,” Murphy said. “ Plus it would activate so many different components of response. I was very busy, working typically seven days a week, sometimes 12-hour shifts.”
Another one of the challenges with COVID was how quickly information would change.
“Everyone expected us to have the right answers right away, but with an evolving situation you give the best information and respond to the best information at the time,” he said. “You don’t always have all the details when you would like them. You just have to do what’s prudent at the time.”
Another one of the major challenges Murphy and health departments throughout the state faced was combating misinformation.
“There’s a lot of competition for peoples’ attention,” Murphy said. “Some of it is well-intended but can still be wrong. Ultimately I’d like to see people have a higher level of trust in the institutions that are there to help them and protect them.”
As the new health officer – taking the place of Sandy Sacry, whose contract expired at the end of 2022 – Murphy’s role will include making inspections for conditions of public health, taking steps to limit contact in order to protect the public health from imminent threats, reporting communicable diseases, establishing and maintaining isolation measures as adopted by the local board of health and pursuing action if rules adopted by the local board or department are violated, according to a statutory job description legislated in 2021.
Murphy is easing into the new position. Currently he’s getting to know the staff and determining how best to utilize his skill set. This includes plans to meet the local Department of Emergency Services representatives, the schools and local law enforcement.
“You don’t want to be making introductions during an event,” he said. “It makes any event much smoother. It’s good to know who is doing what and to build trust before these emergencies pop up.”
Jefferson County Public Health Director Pam Hanna said she is thrilled to have Murphy – who also is a former Jefferson County Health board member – as county health officer.
“We are very pleased to have [Murphy] on our team,” said Hanna. “He has so much experience and has been a great member of the community, raising his kids here and being actively involved. I am confident [Murphy] will help us move in a positive direction.”
Hanna said one of the first orders of business for Murphy is to assist with the community health assessment. His wealth of knowledge, she said, will help the Public Health Department gather information on health and interests for residents and use its resources accordingly.
“You want to have good data,” Hanna said, “and [Murphy] will be a tremendous asset to help us get the information we need to make this assessment as beneficial as possible.”
As far as Murphy is concerned, public health can always be improved, especially when it comes to effectively communicating, which he said needs to be looked at closely. Murphy said he learned a lot working with the public during COVID, and wants to do his part to ensure Jefferson County’s Public Health Department does its best to emphasize transparency.
“We always can improve communication,” he said.
