Letter From Board Leadership

BCHC is a more diverse group than ever before, representing 35 cities across 23 states serving 61 million Americans. But one thing has remained constant throughout our coalition’s 22 years: the insight we gain by working in coalition together is critical to our work as big city health leaders. 

Whether we are comparing strategies for how to deal with new threats such as xylazine, sharing best practices for some of the most trenchant issues such as community violence, or speaking with a powerful collective voice to eliminate menthol sales nationally – the community of peers that we share through BCHC amplifies our strength and knowledge base as we work toward health equity in our communities. 

The coalition also gives us a national platform to educate and engage the broader community about critical public health issues that impact us all. It is vitally important our field continues to stand in the foreground of the national conversation, and harnessing our collective voice helps us do that.

Having each served as Board Chair for BCHC in 2023, we have both had the pleasure to help set the agenda for conversations with our colleagues, policymakers, and the American public about the ongoing important of urban public health and health equity. We look forward to many more years of collaboration with this vital coalition.

Mysheika W. Roberts, MD, MPH
Commissioner
Columbus Public Health
BCHC Board Chair, January–March 2023

Philip Huang, MD, MPH
Director and Health Authority
Dallas County Health and Human Services
BCHC Board Chair, April–December 2023