Dr. Calderwood Resigns as Ravalli County Public Health Officer

Dr. Carol Calderwood has announced her resignation as the Ravalli County Health Officer. Calderwood, who helped establish the county's COVID-19 Incident Management Team, will resign in two weeks, according to her statement released Monday, July 20. The incident management team handed over county management of the COVID-19 response to the Public Health Nursing Office weeks ago. Since then, the health officials have continued to strengthen the testing, identification and quarantining of positive coronavirus infections. Calderwood will be focusing on her clinical practice at Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital, but will be available to give advice to the nursing office. She cautioned the public that the peak of the pandemic is yet to come and individual social protection measures were critical. Below is her resignation statement:

It is the right time for me to step down as Ravalli County Health Officer and focus on my clinical practice. Sincere thanks to the Elected Officials, to Board of Health members, and to my numerous other county colleagues who have worked tirelessly with me through the beginning stages of the COVID pandemic. I am confident that our combined efforts, along with State and national actions, have slowed the spread and brought our community time to establish plans and to accumulate supplies. Systems are now in place for reasonable way forward, even if our teams may shift.
I believe that, locally, we still have the worst of our peak to come and that our combined social actions are probably at their most critical. Therefore, I do personally support the Governor's Masking Directive, in part to increase chances that businesses may stay open.
For my part, I will shift to focus on my contributions through the hospital, but I'm certainly available to give medical advice to the County Public Health Nursing Office as long as needed.

Sincerely,
Carol Calderwood, MD