Dr. Stolp Praised For His Service To The Mother Lode
Sonora, CA – At Tuesday’s meeting, the Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors and numerous department heads heaped praises and well wishes upon a colleague and friend who, for the past 12 years, served their public health officer and emergency medical services director.
After officially naming Dr. Liza Ortiz as the county’s new chief public health officer (see previous story), the supervisors provided Dr. Todd Stolp with a public display, nearly equal in parts of appreciation and affection.
In its official resolution recognizing Stolp on his pending retirement, the board noted his 35 years of experience in the medical field, 31 years of which were spent working with county citizens. Crediting Stolp’s work in a number of areas, the board singled out among them developing and implementing for the county: the Community Transformation Grant while also incorporating healthy communities element into the general plan; a community health needs assessment; and a public health emergency response plan. The board also noted his directorships of county medical resource programs, among them, the “BOB” Mobile Health Van, Sexual Assault Response Team and county health fair; and Stolp’s services at the state and national level on various boards and as a featured expert speaker.
Recalling initial impressions of working with Stolp during her tenure with the school board, Supervisor Sherri Brennan noted how his collaboration and communications skills helped build trust and consensus that effectively enabled him to spearhead and implement an H1N1 vaccination response plan when it was quickly needed. Sheriff Jim Mele, noting both Stolp’s partnership in providing humane medical care at the jail and 27 years of friendship, stated,” He has earned the respect, because it has always been and always will be about others.”
Stolp shortly plans travel to West Africa, where he will assist ongoing medical efforts focusing on eradicating spread of the Ebola virus. In accepting the accolades and well wishes, he acknowledged spending “many showers” thinking about what to say at the occasion. He said, “I got very clean but I didn’t come up with…a way of doing anything other than saying ‘thank you.'” Then he simply added, “When I hear the list [of accomplishments on the resolution] it’s very clear that…that’s not achievable without a group, without a community, and so, I thank you.”
