Barbour Community Health Association’s Chief Medical Officer, Jennifer Burner has added Administrator to her list of job titles. Jennifer Burner, MHA, PA-C has assumed the position of part-time Administrator for the Barbour County Health Department as part of a collaborative agreement between BCHA and the health Department.

“We’re happy to collaborate with the Barbour County Board of Health. The health department has been such a vital resource for our community over the years, we just want to do our part to make sure the services they provide continue for years to come,” said Eric Ruf, BCHA’s CEO. “Jennifer has such passion for public health, she was the perfect choice to work with the dedicated staff at the health department.”

Jennifer earned her undergraduate degree from Alderson Broaddus College in 1997 and began working as a Physician Assistant for Belington Medical Clinic in 2013. In 2014, she was promoted to Clinical Director and Director of Quality, and in 2015 and also became the Director of Risk Management.

Burner went on to obtain a Masters’ Degree in Healthcare Administration from George Washington University in January of 2020 and was promoted to Chief Medical Officer in March of this year.

With a pandemic surge about to approach, Burner hit the ground running when she started at the health department.

“Public health is very challenging right now and these folks are working hard, there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work,” said Burner.

“As a leader, you have to try to find some balance between making sure your staff are ok and addressing the day-to-day operational issues you are faced with.” Burner went on to say, “there was a lot to tackle and I had to learn very early on to prioritize – to ask myself, what do we have to accomplish today and chip away at things one goal at a time.”

Burner wants to use this position to not only ensure continued public health services but also to expand those services within our community.

“I want to find out what gaps in public health we have in this county and what our community needs from their local health department, sustaining our services by filling those gaps based on what the needs of the county are.”