[Archived] City of Alexandria Announces Appointment of New Health Director

June 3, 2008

City of Alexandria Announces Appointment of New Health Director

Alexandria City Manager James K. Hartmann announced today the appointment by the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) of Lisa Kaplowitz, M.D., M.S.H.A., as director of the Alexandria Health District. Dr. Kaplowitz will replace Charles Konigsberg, M.D., M.P.H., who will retire July 1 after serving the City and the Virginia Department of Health for nine years. "All of us in the City government welcome our new Health Director, Dr. Kaplowitz, to Alexandria,” said City Manager Hartmann. “We look forward to working with her and continuing our city-state partnership."

Dr. Kaplowitz served as the first Deputy Commissioner for the VDH Office of Emergency Preparedness and Response Programs (EP&R), where she was responsible for the development and implementation of Virginia’s public health and healthcare response to all natural and manmade emergencies. Under her leadership, the EP&R department received national recognition and has consistently received high scores in areas such as public health emergency preparedness by such organizations as the Trust for American Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Prior to joining VDH, Dr. Kaplowitz was on the faculty of the Department of Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU)/Medical College of Virginia, where she established and directed the VCU HIV/AIDS Center for 20 years. As a member of the Virginia General Assembly AIDS Study Committee for 10 years, Dr. Kaplowitz helped develop all HIV-related legislation in the Commonwealth. Dr. Kaplowitz was inducted into the Virginia Women’s Hall of Fame in 1992 and named Woman of the Year by VCU in 1995. In 2004, she was cited by the National Library of Medicine as one of its “Local Legends,” a program honoring women in medicine.

Dr. Kaplowitz received her medical degree from the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine and received her Master of Science in Health Administration from the Virginia Commonwealth University. Dr. Kaplowitz and her family will reside in Alexandria.