State Health Officer Dr. Matthew Christiansen Story Archives

Lawmakers Grow Impatient With Lack Of Health Action

Lawmakers questioned West Virginia’s State Health Officer Matthew Christiansen during a meeting of the Joint Committee on Health about the agency’s lack of action.

Commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Resources’ Bureau for Public Health and West Virginia State Health Office, Matthew Christiansen, presented a state health plan to the West Virginia Legislature’s Joint Committee on Health.

However, lawmakers questioned the plan’s similarities to past years and the lack of specific goals.

Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, thanked Christiansen for his report but asked if anything the legislature has done has helped improve the state’s health outcomes.

“We’ve been here long enough to see similar reports from other state health officials,” Pushkin said. “Have we seen any movement? Are we still at the bottom of every list or at the top of every rung list when it comes to poor public health outcomes? Has anything we’ve done here, moved the needle at all?”

Christiansen answered that there have been improvements in insurance access and accessibility to health care.

“Health care services and insurance coverage is one that we are consistently in the top 10 or so in the nation,” Christiansen said. “And so we do a good job at that; however, we still struggle with transportation issues, as you and I have discussed in the past, and accessibility of that health care access.”

Pushkin responded that the legislature expanded Medicaid for West Virginia residents years ago.

Starting Jan. 1, 2014, West Virginia expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Under the expanded eligibility guidelines, adults aged 19 to 64 are eligible for Medicaid with a household income up to 138 percent of the poverty level.

For a single adult in 2023, that amounts to $20,120 in total annual income.

“I guess what I’m getting at, we’ve heard for years about the determinants of poor public health outcomes, whether it was in regards to children with adverse childhood experiences, or with other socio-economic factors that leads to these outcomes,” Pushkin said. “There have been a lot of plans and I’d hoped that this body, that the legislature is able to actually address it at some point, or we’re going to continue to be at the bottom of every list that we don’t want to be on.”

Del. Amy Summers, R-Taylor, said she and other members of the joint committee on health grew frustrated at the inaction.

“Where I think we reach frustration is that we never get past the planning stage. And we want to be where we get three to six measurable goals, and what will they be? And how are we going to measure them, and okay, we achieve these things, and let’s move to the next thing,” Summers said. “But we never seem to get to that point. And I think that’s just all of our desire, yours as well, is to change some things.”

Christiansen said the current state health plan will be the one implemented, but it will take time.

“This will be that,” Christiansen said. “The State Health Improvement Plan will be that plan that will have a clear set of priorities, a big part of our assessment and survey processes around that stakeholder engagement piece to make sure that we’re bringing other people to the table, acknowledging that we again can’t do those things alone as the Bureau for Public Health but that we need all of our other public health and health care partners at the table.”

W.Va. First Foundation Elects Board Members

The foundation will handle 72.5 percent of the state’s settlement funds, while 24.5 percent will go to local governments. The remaining three percent will be held by the state in escrow to cover any outstanding attorney’s fees.

Through settlements from various lawsuits with opioid manufacturers and distributors, West Virginia stands to gain about $1 billion over the next 10 to 15 years.

The money should be used for recovery and prevention programs. To make sure it is spent correctly, the West Virginia Legislature created the West Virginia First Foundation to distribute those settlement funds in the 2023 regular session. Senate Bill 674 legally recognizes the creation of the foundation. It was signed into law on March 11.

The board includes 11 members, six selected by the counties and five appointed by the governor. All six regions elected their representatives this week via a quorum of elected officials from the towns, cities and counties of each region.

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey addressed the vital need for fiscal responsibility in distributing these funds, noting the time it could take to receive all abatement funding.

“Some of our settlements, we negotiated upfront one-year flat fee, but many others were two years, five years, 10, 15 years, and it goes out over a period of time,” Morrisey said. “That’s why it’s really important that financial management is part of this process as well, so that the money doesn’t get squandered, and that there’s a lot of planning for the future.”

The board members will make decisions about how the funds will be distributed. An “expert panel” will be formed after the board is seated to advise in these funding decisions.

Dr. Michael “Tony” Kelly of Raleigh County was the first board member selected on July 5 to represent Region 6. Kelly was joined July 12 by Berkeley County Community Corrections Director Timothy Czaja and Parkersburg Mayor Tom Joyce, selected to represent Region 2 and Region 3 respectively.

Per the memorandum of understanding that frames the settlement distribution, board members will serve staggered terms of three years. An Executive Director will be appointed by the Attorney General and approved by the board.

At the Region 5 West Virginia First Foundation Regional Selection Meeting, Dr. Matthew Christiansen was elected to represent Cabell, Clay, Boone, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Putnam, Mason, Mingo and Wayne Counties.

Region-5-West-Virginia-Foundation-Regional-Selection-Meeting Download

Christiansen is also West Virginia’s State Medical Director and the Commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Resources Bureau of Public Health.

“These dollars in the foundation are state dollars, but my appointment on this board is through Region Five. If there is a potential conflict of interest there, I could recuse myself from those votes,” Christiansen said. “But I think the importance here is transparency and accountability around where the money is going so that everyone can see that that there are no nefarious issues that are happening that that would account for that. But as it currently stands, I don’t see any necessary areas of overlap where that might be an issue.”

At the meeting members of the Kanawha County Commission also voted to require board meetings of the foundation be conducted in compliance with the West Virginia Open Meetings Act.

While Morrisey highlighted the need for transparency, he also said many questions won’t be answered until the board is seated.

“I think that as time goes forward, once that board gets constituted, I think they will be setting up a lot of the rules of the road in terms of how there’ll be interactions and I encourage, strongly encourage public processes where people get to participate,” Morrisey said. “So, I think that’s important. I think the goal of this was to have an open, transparent process, but also be able to bring experts together and to allow for some expertise and deliberation as well.”

Region 4 elected Marion County businessman Jonathan Board to represent them on the board Thursday. The region covers 13 counties including Monongalia, Marion, Preston, Taylor, Doddridge, Harrison, Barbour, Tucker, Gilmer, Lewis, Braxton, Upshur and Randolph.

Board says West Virginia has a unique opportunity to address the issues opioids have caused and stop the destruction.

“The question is what happens to the next generation, we are teetering on complete catastrophe,” Board said. “That’s why this is a beautiful thing where we can step in and say, we’re going to stem the tide. We’re going to fill the gap. And we’re going to find solutions. But we have to do it now.”

He acknowledged that although every community represented by the board is facing the same issue, each community will require a different approach to a solution.

“I think that’s what’s so special about this opportunity,” Board said. “Our needs in Elkins and in Fairmont, and in Morgantown and in Harrison County, they’re all different. We’re dealing with the same challenge. But it needs different solutions. And that’s why this is really valuable.”

Board also said there will need to be a robust vetting process to ensure the money is spent correctly and with communities’ best interests in mind.

This is not the first time the state has received a large amount of money to address chronic issues. At Thursday’s meeting David Street, a member of the Barbour County Commission and director of an hospital emergency department, brought up the issue of trying to administer federal broadband money appropriately.

“I live in this world every day, and every night at the commission meetings,” Street said. “My observation is this: in both worlds, I’m seeing 501(C)3s and groups pop up like a plague. It disgusts me.”

Monongalia County Commissioner Tom Bloom, who led the Region 4 meeting, thanked Street for his comment.

“First it was broadband, now its opioid funding,” Bloom said. “All county commissions are dealing with that. I think that’s a concern that you brought up and I’m sure, you can look at several of the other commissioners shaking their heads. ”

After the meeting, Bloom echoed Morrisey and said electing the board is only the first step.

“There’s an expertise committee, and another regional committee, which we have no idea how to set that up yet or what we’re doing,” Bloom said. “I am just glad that this is over.”

On the agenda for Thursday’s meeting was also a discussion regarding best practices for the board. As in Region Five the previous day, the elected officials voted unanimously to require that the by-laws of the West Virginia First Foundation require all board meetings be conducted in compliance with the Open Meetings Act.

“We made it very clear that Region Five, Region Four are adamant, unanimously that these meetings need to be open, so everyone understands how the process is, where the money’s going, and how it’s going to be spent,” Bloom said. “We’re very worried. We don’t want to see a continuance of what happened with the tobacco, we don’t want to continue to what’s going on with broadband.”

Bloom says the region will submit the names of the other candidates to Gov. Jim Justice to be considered for his five appointments to the board.

No selections have been made by the executive office, according to the latest report from Justice’s office. It is not clear what will happen if Justice’s selections are not made clear by the Monday, July 17 deadline. The governor’s selections are subject to confirmation by the Senate.

According to Morrisey’s Press Secretary, John Mangalonzo, the regional selections still have to be certified.

“Keep in mind that an accounting firm has seven days from the date of the election to certify the votes and submit the certified results to the AG’s and governor’s offices,” Mangalonzo said in an email.

Region 1: Steven Corder
Region 2: Tim Czaja
Region 3: Parkersburg Mayor Tom Joyce
Region 4: Jonathan Board
Region 5: Dr. Matthew Christiansen
Region 6: Dr. Tony Kelly

Justice’s office did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publishing.

DHHR Names New Medical Director For OEMS

State Health Officer and Commissioner of the West Virginia DHHR’s Bureau for Public Health, Dr. Matt Christiansen, announced Martin will replace interim director, Dr. Beth Toppins who served since April 2023.

The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) named Dr. PS Martin as the new medical director for the Office of Emergency Medical Services (OEMS).

State Health Officer and Commissioner of the West Virginia DHHR’s Bureau for Public Health Dr. Matt Christiansen, announced Martin will replace interim director Dr. Beth Toppins who served since April 2023.

“Dr. Martin brings a wealth of knowledge to this critical position with hands-on experience as a physician in emergency departments and as the medical director for multiple EMS agencies,” Christiansen said. “His unique and specialized background in the field of emergency medical services will be an asset to West Virginia, and will continue the work of Dr. Toppins. We are grateful for her service during a period of transition.”

Martin is an associate professor of emergency medicine at WVU’s School of Medicine and an emergency room physician at West Virginia University’s Ruby Memorial Hospital.

“I am honored to lead this office, which does incredible work to support West Virginia’s EMS systems and residents,” said Martin. “I look forward to working with OEMS staff and partners to optimize the quality of emergency care across the state and improve the job satisfaction of our dedicated EMS providers.”

Dr. PS Martin

*Credit: West Virginia University*

Martin earned his bachelor’s degree and doctor of medicine from West Virginia University.

Martin will replace Toppins on June 23, 2023.

W.Va. Sees First Cases Of Drug-Resistant Fungi

While Candida auris is resistant to antibiotics, physicians have a set of medicines to treat the fungal infection. The difficult part is identifying the infection and prescribing the correct medication.

A drug-resistant fungal infection first found in the U.S. in 2015 has been detected in West Virginia.

The fungi, Candida auris, is part of a class of fungi well-known to researchers. While its classification is known, physicians are working to learn how to identify it in their patients.

Dr. Matthew Christiansen is the West Virginia state health officer and commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Resources Bureau of Public Health.

“It’s been something that we’ve been monitoring here at the bureau for a few years now,” Christiansen said. “We’ve been lucky here in West Virginia to not have a case until recently.”

Christiansen said the fungal infection predominantly affects people who are already immunocompromised, putting long-term care facility patients at risk.

“Candida is a yeast or fungus that is present in the environment,” Christiansen said. “Its presence is almost ubiquitous in our lives that we just that we don’t notice. And so when we see Candida in a sample that we’ve collected from a patient, sometimes that can be chalked up to a naturally occurring or not pathologic form of that disease or of that infection that’s causing the disease.”

“It’s just that we need to make sure that providers are aware that this is present, make sure they do their specific tests to confirm that, that they’re dealing with this specific type of drug-resistant candidal infection, and then use the appropriate antibiotic,” Christiansen said. “And so there are options. It’s just that it is resistant to some of the more common medicines that we use.”

Those worried about Candida auris being the next pandemic need not worry, according to Christiansen, the fungus is treatable if identified correctly.

“This certainly is not as infectious as COVID-19, for example, in the sense that the infections that we’ve seen with this infection are isolated to people that are immunocompromised in long-term care facilities,” Christiansen said. “And we do have known medications that can treat it as long as we identify it early and get the antibiotics on board quickly enough.”

Christiansen also praised West Virginia’s health facilities for keeping Candida auris away from their patients for the eight years it has been found on American soil.

“The fact that we haven’t had infections yet speaks to the quality of our hospital systems, or our long-term care facilities of prevention and, and in early intervention, regarding the spread of infectious diseases and appropriate use of antibiotics,” Christiansen said. “Those are all things that can prevent the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and funguses.”

State Moves To Protect Water Supply From PFAS

During his weekly briefing, the Gov. Jim Justice said West Virginia has taken steps to meet federal guidelines to lower PFAS, or forever chemicals, in the state’s water supplies.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this week announced a proposal to limit PFAS chemical compounds (PFOA and PFOS) in drinking water to four parts per trillion.

Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are present throughout our society and in thousands of products in the industrial, food and textile industries. They’re used in firefighting foams, food packaging, cleaning products, and household items like non-stick cookware.

State Health Officer Dr. Matthew Christiansen said as the health impacts of PFAS have become more apparent, the Public Health Department is working closely with its state and federal partners to monitor the problem.

“Now as we’re learning more about these and the science is becoming more clear, we’re learning that they are possible carcinogens and can create other adverse health impacts with exposure over a long period of time,” he said.

According to Christiansen, the United States Geological Survey has surveyed the raw water for 279 water systems throughout West Virginia. He said 37 of those were identified by the EPA as having levels of PFOA or PFOS in the raw water source.

He said the state has established a working group to provide support to the state’s public water systems.

“At the direction of the governor, the DHHR and the DEP, we have proactively reached out to water systems in West Virginia in preparation of these revised EPA guidelines,” Christiansen said.

The collaboration between the DHHR and DEP is expected to provide a venue for communication about best practices in the state’s mitigation of PFAS and their compounds.

“We believe that these proposed maximum contaminant levels for PFAS are achievable for the majority of our water systems here in West Virginia,” Christian said.

More than $18 million the state received in EPA funding will be used for things like research and testing, treatment, source water control, restructuring or consolidation, and technical assistance.

Under the state’s response efforts to lower PFAS in water supplies, it’s expected that some public water systems will need to install additional mitigation plans to treat PFAS moving forward.