Not everyone can handle the pressure of being responsible for the health of more than 360,000 people, but calm resolve and a deep passion for public health has helped Dr. Valerie Boaz do exactly that.
Now, after 32 years, Boaz is retiring from her pivotal role as the Tennessee Department of Health's regional health officer and medical director for the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department.
Boaz took the position as an opportunity to return to her native Chattanooga after earning her Bachelor of Arts in chemistry from Vanderbilt University, earning her doctorate from St. Louis University Medical School and completing a three-year internal medicine residency at St. Louis University Hospitals.
"I stayed here. I made my decision. I am happy here and I'm happy with my position at the Health Department," Boaz said Tuesday, reflecting on her career the day before retirement. "I never really wanted to go anywhere else."
Boaz attributes her enthusiasm for health and science as well as her work ethic to her late parents, who each had esteemed careers.
Her father, Dr. Lonnie Boaz Jr., ran his own private family practice in Chattanooga for 33 years and her mother, Aurellia Mitchell Boaz, worked as a research mathematician for the Langley Laboratory of the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (now NASA), then devoted herself to raising their three children before returning to school to study data processing technology and begin a second career as a computer programmer.
"They certainly contributed to my interest in the field," Boaz said of her parents and late brother, who ran a private gastroenterology practice in Chattanooga. "And I do think they were proud."
But Boaz's career was not about pride, but rather her devotion to public health.
"Immediately, of course with public health, there's a lot of medicine involved here, so I still feel like I am actively involved in medicine," she said. "And with the administrative duties, I get to work closely with the staff to help people in the community and it's just been really rewarding."
Though she never thought while she was in school that public health or administration would be her career path, Boaz found a position that used her quiet fortitude and aptitude for science to help the community, even during outbreaks and some of the more chaotic times in her tenure.
"We come together as a team, we meet and we review the situation and develop our response accordingly," Boaz said. "I think there have been several crises in my time, and my role here in terms of leadership, and being a liaison with the medical community and sharing information with them about what's going on and what our public health efforts are, and just being aware of what's going on - I think that was my major role,"
After being inspired by the other medical professionals in her own life, Boaz said that fostering the same love of public health was a highlight of her career.
"An aspect that I've enjoyed over the years has been mentoring and working with students and letting them see what medicine is like and what public health is like," Boaz said. "I feel like my parents set the example of that for me, and that's been another thing I've really enjoyed in this position."
Her colleagues confirm the impact of Boaz's career on the local medical community, citing her research and protocols which are implemented in local hospitals.
"It's a big chapter closing for public health in Hamilton County," Health Department Public Information Officer Tom Bodkin said. "That's a tremendous legacy to leave behind, that all of these people work off of your guidance."
Boaz shares her colleague's affection.
"We've just got a great team, from our administrators to our directors," Boaz said. "It's just been a pleasure to be able to be here and work with everybody."
Boaz ended her last day, Wednesday, by celebrating with her colleagues at a retirement reception.
In her retirement, Boaz says she'll spend more time with her nieces- one of whom holds a master's degree in public health - and traveling, but is leaving her time open to learning and public service.
"This is my first time retiring and it's kind of new to me," she joked. "I'm not sure what I'll do yet, but I look forward to learning and doing new things."
The health department has not yet named a successor for Boaz, because, according to Bodkin, "she's been such an institution," but they are in the process of filling it.
Contact Sarah Grace Taylor at staylor@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6416. Follow her on Twitter @sarahgtaylor.