When there have been instances where we’ve received information to show that we’re not moving in the right direction, we’ve quickly pivoted. Critics have said the county crippled the economy with tighter restrictions. The reality is we continue to base those recommendations and guidance upon [the] numbers and where we see them. Then the contact tracing began. Hogan’s updated executive ... State officials are “definitely interested” in the COVID-19 mass vaccination site proposed for Montgomery College’s Germantown campus, Montgomery County Emergency Management and Homeland Security Director ... Montgomery County COVID-19 Statistics for March 9 What role did you play in the decision to not reopen Montgomery County Public Schools for in-person learning? We’re in constant communication with other health departments [and] we share information if we find stuff out. Author: Jess Arnold Published: 6:22 PM MST January 24, 2021 Montgomery County Health Officer Dr. Travis Gayles announced that the new order would be effective 5 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 24. I had to work to get here, but recognizing I come from generations of folks who worked really, really insanely hard doing jobs that they probably didn’t necessarily enjoy but they did it to support their families and to create a space for me, my siblings and my generation to be able to do the stuff that we’re doing. I think the heart of the matter is higher levels of community transmission. Gayles has been the county’s health officer and chief of public health services since September 2017. Julia Doherty - Designee of the Chair of the Board of the Primary Care Coalition. This was the first time I was delivering this diagnosis on my own, I was nervous about it. “There are certain [phone] numbers that you see and think, ‘This can’t be good,’ ” he says. That’s something I’ve always carried with me. Susan Kenedy has the story As Montgomery County continues Phase 2 reopening, health officials remind all residents that face coverings must be worn to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. I ended up applying [to a Ph.D. community health program at the University of Illinois], and I got in and I didn’t have to choose [between medicine and public policy and health]. I think the source is we just still haven’t achieved lower community transmission, so that regardless of the space you’re walking into—the schools or a business—there’s still increased risk that you’re bringing COVID-19 into that space. I take that very seriously and try as best as I can to make sure my job is to represent everybody. I have a goal—I’d really like to have traveled to 50 countries by the time I turn 50. I would wager based upon how hard they worked that had they been given the opportunity, there probably would have been other doctors along the way. They don’t know you at all. Gayles had trained for a pandemic, but this would be his first time leading a response. My parents’ emphasis growing up was not profession specific. County Health Officer and Chief of DHHS Public Health Services, Dr. Travis Gayles also stressed the importance of increasing preregistration across the county. ROCKVILLE, Md. What would you say has been your lowest moment over the last six months? People are like, ‘How is that possible?’ There are areas where the technology needs to be updated and modernized where everything is electronic. It’s amazing the stuff people put out with their names associated with it. A lot of derogatory language [has] been put out there by people. It is shaped by it, but it doesn’t have to be your expected baseline. Do you have any memorable moments from early in your career or experiences that changed you or your perspective? We get a surveillance report on a daily basis. When you’re operating from that perspective and many others aren’t, and they twist everything in that way, it’s exhausting to kind of have to fight that. Over 97,000 residents (9.2 %) have received their second dose. After having spent a large amount of time over the last two to three years with them in that nursing home setting, that probably added to that heaviness from that. But the reality is, if we increase points of transmission and points of contact, we’re never going to achieve the numbers where we lower the burden of the virus in the community. Sure, I play tennis. After talking to Phillips, he set up a call that included County Executive Marc Elrich, county council President Sidney Katz, then-Chief Administrative Officer Andrew Kleine and others to tell them the news. During his time at Northwestern, he also served as a pediatrician and director of HIV testing services at the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Thursday, March 5. Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services. I often joke, [but] I sincerely mean this, that there are two people in the world whose opinion that I care about—and those are my parents. What kind of significance does being the first physician in your family carry for you? I don’t always see other people who look like me at the table or [who] come with my own personal experiences in terms of [the] demographic group I belong in. It’s tough balancing that sense of we failed vs. unfortunately there was a lot of asymptomatic transmission before we really understood that and it got into the settings. Bethesda Magazine met with Gayles in mid-September at the county’s Dennis Avenue Health Center in Silver Spring. Dr. Travis Gayles, the chief public health officer for Montgomery County, MD, says he’s “extremely frustrated” that in a county with 72,000+ people over the age of 75, the local health department has been receiving only 4,500 doses a week. That tends to be the most common one. Do you have a routine? "We don’t have any evidence of community transmission of COVID-19," Dr. Travis Gayles, who is Montgomery County Health Officer and Chief of Public Health Services said. Early on, I would say probably every day you get up [for a] first call, 7:30 a.m., and you’re emailing up until 11:30 p.m. at night. Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett has appointed Dr. Travis Gayles to serve as the County Health Officer and Chief of Public Health Services. What motivated you to choose this career? Montgomery County Health Officer Dr. Travis Gayles rescinded a health order that prohibited all private and parochial schools from opening for in-person instruction until Oct. 1. I think the language said something to the effect of, ‘Your parents should be embarrassed by you’ and, ‘Your father would be embarrassed but you know, let’s not be getting it twisted, you don’t even know who your father is.’ It’s just that kind of crazy. Dr. Travis Gayles is the health officer for the county who is leading the county the way through the Covid 19 crisis. As announced by a Montgomery County press release: “I am pleased that Dr. Gayles has […] There are sites such as Johns Hopkins; Harvard has a COVID-tracker site as well that allows for comparisons. How many hours a week would you say you’re working? The Bethesda Interview is edited for length and clarity. This story was updated at 10:25 p.m. on March 9, 2021, to include additional comments from Dr. Travis Gayles. “For the millions watching at home, we need you to also preregister in the system particularly if you are over the age of 65 as well as if you’re part of those essential employee groups designated in groups 1B tier 2 and tier 3.” There’s been some homophobic comments mentioned. Is it possible that the schools will open earlier than planned? I think I can think of one colorful email that was probably the worst of them all, that basically everything you could think of, there was something in it that [was] addressed. Our purpose is to engage, educate and empower individuals and the community to express diverse viewpoints. At every step of the way, they were and continue to be extremely supportive in terms of encouraging me to pursue those particular dreams and passions. It becomes a personal subjective thing when really we’re operating on an objective, nonpartisan, apolitical perspective. His appointment was approved by the County Council. Dr. Travis Gayles, Montgomery County's Health Officer, also updated county officials on his vaccination. Montgomery County Health Officer Dr. Travis Gayles said at the current pace, it would take nearly two years to vaccinate the entire county. Briana Adhikusuma covers the county government for Bethesda Beat. Larry Hogan announced at a press conference Tuesday that the state will start easing capacity limits at bars, restaurants, and other establishments. Did your parents recognize your interest in health at an early age? You have “played it safe” in reopening and lifting restrictions slower than the state and been criticized for those decisions. So that kind of stuff, where it has no basis and it is what it is. When you have to worry about your safety or staff members’ safety, does that distract from the focus on the public health response? Up until that point I was convinced I loved civics and government, still do. Like this post? He earned his medical degree at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in 2009—he’s the first physician in his family—and in 2012 became a research fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health, focusing on the intersection of victimization, violence and high-risk behaviors of adolescents. You go to a gym, you go to a restaurant, you go to other places—you’re there for a shorter period of time as opposed to being in an enclosed shared space for six to eight hours at a given time. Copyright 2021 Bethesda Magazine. When the governor reopened [in Phase 1] and we said, ‘No, we’re not going to go because our numbers are too high,’ we waited. You seem very unmoved by it.’ He went on to say, ‘That’s the reality of my demographic. The appointment was approved by the County Council and Dr. Gayles began his new position in mid-September. But when it was clear that the CDC said, ‘Actually, yes,’ we put one in place. Montgomery County Health Officer Travis Gayles, who has been at the forefront of the County’s response to the COVID-19 health crisis, will be the featured guest at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 28, on the next episode of the Montgomery College video “Presidential Dialogue Series.” We still get results by fax. Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett announced the appointment of Dr. Travis Gayles as County Health Officer and Chief of Public Health Services early Monday. Why? It does because when you go home, you’re tired and you carry that with you. I and our team have been empathetic to the economic realities that exist. We’ve got three cases in Montgomery County.”. https://www.mymcmedia.org/travis-gayles-named-countys-new-health-officer It wears on you when you see some of the stuff that people send in. It is challenging in the setting of schools because there is a high volume of folks who are in a place for a longer period of time. As health officer, Dr. Gayles will oversee all federal, state and locally funded public health services within/, Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett Health and Human Services health officer Dr. Travis Gayles Chief of Public Health Services e. © 2021 Montgomery Community Media. When it came time to [put] in a mandate, we were the first [jurisdiction] in the state to do so, back in June—about a month and a half before the governor put one in for the state. Because any time you’ve got a virus living in your community at higher transmission levels, you’re asking for trouble. I love to travel and experience new cultures and see and try new things. Gayles is from Chase City, Virginia and completed his Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy Studies at Duke University,  and his PhD in Community Health and MD from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. What is different is we do have some institutional experience now with having dealt with this for a number of months that will hopefully help us respond to those potential bad days better than when we first got hit. That’s usually what I read late at night after answering emails, to make sure we’re up to speed on what’s happening and what’s going on. I’m trying to be very careful about sketching out boundaries for self-care and personal health and well-being and getting to the gym. Dr. DeRionne Pollard, president of Montgomery College, and Dr. Travis Gayles, Health Officer for Montgomery County will discuss the CO Dr. Gayles’ research expertise lies at the nexus of infectious disease and the social and biomedical factors that impact disease transmission. The Montgomery County Council is saluting Black History Month and focusing on changemakers in the county. Certainly we have a lot of systems in place now to prevent that from happening again and, knock on wood,  we’ve been able to get those numbers down and keep things low. Website by Web Publisher PRO, A physical therapist talks about how to avoid an achy neck, back pain and stiffness when you’re working from home, These scenic spots offer stargazers ample views of the night sky, away from the urban glare, Percentage of county hospital beds used by COVID-19 patients decreasing, Silver Spring senior living community vaccinates 96% of residents, Sold in Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Potomac: March 2-9, Park police investigating sexual assault of girl in Kensington, Taco restaurant coming to downtown Bethesda. “We were executing fully within our rights and responsibilities based on the state laws in terms of the guidelines and instructions that health officers had. That night, Maryland Gov. When did you become interested in pursuing health? Gayles, who is single and does not have children, has been praised and criticized for the decisions he’s made on how fast the county would reopen, whether schools would be allowed to hold in-person instruction, and what mandates would be put in place to keep students and staff safe. Now it’s a bit more manageable. Gayles then issued another order on Aug. 5, citing a Maryland law that allows county health officers to “act properly” to avoid the spread of a disease that endangers public health. Probably the times where we received the most negative feedback were when we chose not to move forward in reopening with the state originally, and around the decision around nonpublic schools. Not only did we wait, we did ultimately move forward but we also kept some precautions. One of the most brazen examples recently occurred in super-lefty Montgomery County (MoCo), Maryland, where local health czar Travis Gayles announced last Friday that he would impose a $5,000 fine and up to a year in prison on private school teachers that teach students in person between now and October 1. Three days later, Hogan issued his own order, overturning the county’s directive and prohibiting local health officers from deciding whether the schools should reopen. It was probably the moment of greatest frustration in terms of how a decision that was made based upon science and data was manipulated and characterized in a way that was not accurate and not fair. When things are fine and [health departments] operate in the background, we’re also one of the first places where budgets get cut. As long as they think I’m doing OK and moving in the right direction, that’s what’s most important. Staff Writer. A native of Chase City, Virginia, Gayles graduated with a dual bachelor’s degree in public policy studies and African American studies from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, before receiving his Ph.D. in health policy and community health from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2006. Montgomery County Health Officer Dr. Travis Gayles said Tuesday that the county might lift some restrictions on gathering limits and child care capacity if COVID-19 cases continue to decrease. I remember a lot of people used to say they were strict. How has the reopening of some private schools impacted the rest of the county, and COVID-19 conditions? Health Officer Dr. Travis Gayles points to a supply shortage as the cause of the backlog. The county was the first jurisdiction in Maryland, Virginia or Washington, D.C., to have confirmed cases of COVID-19. I think the response has brought out a big gap [in] the modernization of the public health infrastructure for service delivery. I’ve got eight years and some change to get to 50. I’ve been very thankful in my career to move forward and be in some important places where important decisions are being made. People will send emails from their work accounts where you’re like, really? Citing the need to protect the health and safety of Montgomery County residents as well as parents, students, teachers and staff from the spread of COVID-19, County Health Officer Dr. Travis Gayles today directed nonpublic schools in Montgomery County to remain closed for in-person instruction through Oct. 1, 2020. End of discussion.”. The CDC issued the first guidance for people fully vaccinated for COVID-19 on its website Monday. This is going to be the ongoing thing: balancing the need to open things up with science. and Ph.D. in community health. So that’s how I ended up doing an M.D. Yeah, highly racial overtone. The expectation was you should expect to make honor roll—that should be your baseline, that kind of thing. I’m currently at 31. His position is dually appointed by the state secretary of health and the county executive. I would wager to say that approach has helped us drive [the] numbers down. When it came to face coverings, we did not have a face-covering mandate in place. How has that experience affected you? Dr. Betsey Ballard - Member of the Montgomery County Medical Society. I think MCPS left it open to say they would reevaluate at the end of the fall quarter to see where they stand in terms of being able to move forward. When I’m looking specifically at Montgomery County, I also have to look at it in the context of the region that we’re surrounded by, so our peer counties and the National Capital Region in Maryland, as well as D.C. and our peer counties in Northern Virginia. But no, I stand by that trajectory and that guidance. On April 9, Montgomery County’s chief health officer Travis Gayles decreed that any store customer who failed to wear a mask would be fined $500. I think something they instilled growing up was that there may be people who are more talented than you, or maybe even smarter than you, but there should never be an instance where people outwork you. They created the culture that whatever you chose or selected to do, do it well. We were the first in the state to do so for our employees and first line of responders. One time I was post-call trying to get out of the [children’s] hospital and a mother was running behind me, trying to catch my attention. Sign up for our Daily Update. We didn’t create this. They also mine the data in articles and journals to be able to find the most up-to-date, relevant articles to provide for me and other staff to have to read. How has that affected you? "I didn't grow six inches, my body didn't change. He was at home in Silver Spring, getting ready to shower after his regular spin class and thinking about his plans for dinner. I think I made the decision to go into medicine back in early high school—probably freshman year. Larry Hogan announced that all three Montgomery County residents had contracted the virus while on a Nile River cruise in Egypt. Montgomery County's health officer, Dr. Travis Gayles, shown speaking in March, has abandoned his effort to prevent private schools from holding in-person classes through Oct. 1. Are you concerned there will be more cases because of some private schools operating with in-person learning? It was not called for and it led to distractions from being able to stay focused on the work that we’ve been committed to doing in keeping people safe. Montgomery County health officials say they ... “I think the expectation is that this will be our allocation weekly for the foreseeable future,” said the county health officer, Dr. Travis Gayles. As a county health officer, you’ve taken this strong stance even if it is in direct opposition with the governor. It was a Black mother who said, ‘I just wanted to grab you because my son’s been coming to the hospital for years and he’s never seen a Black male doctor and I wanted to introduce him to you.’ Whether some look at it as a responsibility, I look at it as a privilege because representation matters. Because it’s guided by science and evidence and data. Montgomery County, FY2018 Travis A. Gayles, MD, PhD Health Officer. I was going to be an orthopedic surgeon. What have been the greatest challenges for you personally in leading the response to this health crisis? We’ve received concerning emails where I’d had to have some conversations with the police department to talk about potential security. When I told him, he was like, ‘OK.’ I said, ‘Tell me more. Making sure that those who are most vulnerable in those situations are covered as soon as possible. There have been threats of folks showing up at my house and protesting and things like that. The first patient that I delivered a diagnosis of being HIV positive was an 18-year-old young man in Chicago. Unfortunately, we do recognize that that is going to keep certain businesses and industries not being able to function. I’m like, ‘Oh no, what’s going on?’ She stopped me. Gov. Do you do anything else to recharge at the end of the day? Gayles, 41, knew it was only a matter of time before he’d receive that kind of call. My true biggest vice is travel, but I can’t really do that right now. The first one—and I still struggle with this one because we were hit hard and it was just trying to figure out how to avoid it—was the nursing home situation and the lives that were lost. I think unfortunately we’re going to see some more bad days before we completely clear things. Dr. Travis Gayles is the chief public health officer for Montgomery County, Maryland, the most populous in the state and one of the most diverse, right next door to Washington D.C. I think one of the tough things is—and we don’t talk a lot about this in public—that health is a nonpartisan, apolitical thing. There have been some that have been borderline, like, we need to keep an eye out on that. We’re doing our best to try to mitigate transmission and to [limit] the spread of disease because ultimately we would love to get to a point where we can open things back up broadly. They also compile it from a number of databases that showcase the impact of our hospitals in terms of how many people are showing up to the emergency room, those kinds of things. It’s been a lot of that. I don’t, personally, because we’re going to continue to do what we need to do to keep people safe. Montgomery County Health Officer Dr. Travis Gayles said at the current pace, it would take nearly two years to vaccinate the entire county. More than 194,000 Montgomery County residents have received their first dose of # COVID-19 vaccine through all venues (18.5% of the County population). So when that activity was reinstituted, the leagues popped back up. He said on average the county has been receiving about 7,000 doses a week, adding up to a little more than 30,000 doses. In any instance where there’s a public health question, I’m asked to provide that guidance and we do our due diligence in terms of researching as much as possible, getting background information about best practices, all those kinds of things. I don’t support that. I’m not in the room when they make decisions and I don’t know who’s in the room when they make those decisions. The call was from Fran Phillips, Maryland’s deputy secretary for public health services at the time. County Health Officer Dr. Travis Gayles, ... As an alternative to opening a separate mass vaccination site in Montgomery County, however, Gayles also proposed setting aside a … Gayles discouraged local residents from acquiring and wearing the most reliable protection, such as surgical masks or N95 masks, which the county said “ should be reserved for health care workers.” But he was overruled again when Maryland Secretary of Health Robert Neall sent a memo to local health officers on Aug. 6, contending that the state’s policy is that private schools in Maryland shouldn’t be closed in a “blanket manner.”, Gayles feels that he was caricatured as a “political animal” for his decisions regarding the reopening of private schools. Have you received threats from the public? I think the challenge will be if we get hit with another one, or if this one worsens, there’s a lot of people who I think have reached the point where it’s, ‘Well, things aren’t that bad.’ So it’s almost like we can live with 80 cases a day as long as we’re not seeing fatalities or the hospitals overrun. Hopefully a big piece of this moving forward will also include more multidisciplinary approaches that bring different government agencies together to address those social determinants. Before turning to public health, Gayles was an adjunct professor in the Department of Health Sciences at DePaul University in Chicago and a clinical instructor in pediatrics at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. All rights reserved. The Maryland Department of Health reported 85 new COVID-19 cases in Montgomery County Tuesday morning. If you faced another pandemic in the future, what would you do differently? I would say I tend to, in the evenings, probably do a couple of hours dependent on what needs to get done. Dr. Travis Gayles - Ex-Officio, Chief, Public Health Services, DHHS Dr. Gayles estimates that the county has 60,000 to 70,000 people in category 1A and approximately 180,000 people who are over 65. People who look like me, live where I live, love who I love—I assumed it would happen at some point by virtue of where I live and who I am.’ That stuck with me and bothered me that this was a young person who at some point had created this sense of  ‘this is what is likely to happen based on my lived environment.’  I’ve tried to think about leveraging my space, my career, my professional efforts to try to change that so that as a kid growing up, your ultimate trajectory is not defined by your lived reality. MyMCMedia the home of Montgomery Community Media (MCM). After moving to the D.C. area in 2015, Gayles served as chief medical officer for the HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, STD, and TB Administration and division chief of the STD-TB control division for the District of Columbia Department of Health. “You all are the first ones. We utilize data that we get from the Maryland Department of Health. In many instances, they didn’t have the opportunities that we had because they grew up in a segregated society. I want to see them go down. I go [to the gym at] off-peak times where there’s not a large crowd of folks, and make sure to adhere to the policies and practices we’ve put forward in terms of cleaning surfaces, face covering on, trying to physically distance as much as possible during those times.
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