DeKalb District Health Director Sandra Ford accepts job with the White House

DEKALB COUNTY, GA– DeKalb County Board of Health officials are hosting a farewell celebration on Friday, April 23, for Dr. Sandra Elizabeth Ford, District Health Director and CEO of the DeKalb County Board of Health. Ford has accepted a job with the Biden Administration that will begin on May 10.

Ford, who has served for more than 16 years leading the DeKalb County Board of Health, has been tapped to serve as Special Assistant to the President for Public Health and Science. She will work as part of the White House Domestic Policy Council under Susan Rice.

Ford was presented a proclamation thanking her for her service at the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners meeting on last Tuesday.

Ford told the board accepting her new job was “bittersweet.”

“I don’t know that I won’t be back, but I just could not, as they say in Hamilton, I could not throw away this shot,” Dr. Ford told DeKalb County Commissioners during a meeting Tuesday. “This is so bittersweet.”

DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond praised Ford for her leadership in DeKalb.

“DeKalb County’s loss is America’s gain,” said Thurmond.

“We are so proud of Dr. Ford. She’s a visionary leader, a dedicated physician and she’s done yeoman’s work here in DeKalb for the last 16 years and especially over the last 12 months has fought to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.”

In addition to playing an integral role in educating the public on the spread of COVID-19 and urging the public to get vaccinated, Ford focused on health disparities within the minority community and served on an interim basis with the Fulton County Board of Health and the Georgia Department of Public Health during her time in DeKalb.

“We’ve done some amazing things in this agency that I pray will continue because they are transformational for these communities,” Ford told the DeKalb Board of Commissioners.