The COVID-19 Pandemic has placed both mental health and public health workers on the front lines in an array of on-going stressful situations. As a result, mental health and public health agencies have had to innovate and adapt practices to support and care for their workforce and the populations they serve. This townhall event featured mental health and public health agency representatives sharing insight on ways they have addressed COVID-19 while also supporting staff, the value of Mental Health-Public Health partnerships, and the related challenges they anticipate during the first half of 2021.
Audrey Arona, MD, Chief Executive Officer / District Health Director. Dr. Audrey Arona graduated from the University of California, San Diego, with a degree in Cell Biology/Biochemistry and thereafter graduated from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in 1991. She completed an OB/GYN Residency at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles in 1995, began private practice thereafter in San Jose, California, and later moved to Lawrenceville, Georgia where she owned an OB/GYN private practice for 20 years. She served as a consultant to the Gwinnett-Newton-Rockdale Health Department in 2012 and in 2018 become their Medical Director. She now serves as their Chief Executive Office/District Health Director.
Jennifer Hibbard, LPC, Chief Executive Officer. Ms. Hibbard is a Licensed Professional Counselor with View Point Health for 18 years in a variety of roles including Clinician, Clinical Director, and for the past 7 years serving as CEO. In the community Ms. Hibbard serves on the Board of Directors for the Gwinnett Coalition of Health and Human Services, the Steering Committee for Leadership Gwinnett and is a past President and member of the Rotary Club of Gwinnett County. Originally from Texas, she earned her Master's Degree in Professional Counseling at Southwest Texas State University and Bachelor's Degree from the University of Texas in Austin.
