Leader, partner, friend mourned in loss of health dept. administrator

One of Butler County’s most significant advantages during a disaster would be the rural nature of the area, Robert Hudson said in 2007, during a preparedness event.

“The county has the mentality that neighbor should help neighbor. That will be a great asset,” said Hudson, who became the administrator of Butler County Health Department in 1997.

Hudson himself was perhaps the best model of that, according to friends and colleagues who are mourning his loss this week after a tragic accident took the 52-year-old’s life. A full obituary appears on page 6 of today’s edition.

“That’s who he was. He saw a problem and figured out what partnerships could be created to solve those problems, to make our community healthier and safer,” said Butler County Emergency Management Agency Director Robbie Myers, who both worked closely with Hudson through their jobs, and had also known the man since junior high.

Hudson is known by officials throughout the region, state and beyond for his work to build programs and partnerships that benefited the public.

“He was a great advocate for public health,” said Jan Morrow, administrator of the Ripley County Health Department. “In this time of money being so tight, we realized by working together for our counties, that we could do more.

“I think that was a great attribute that he had.”

Hudson partnered with Morrow on multi-county programs and grants, including efforts to fight opioid addiction in the county and to share a nutritionist that benefited WIC programs for mothers and infants in both counties.

His partnership-building abilities also brought the skill of Johns Hopkins University researchers into play for the benefit of Ripley and Butler counties, and the region.

It was a chance encounter that turned into both a deep friendship and working relationship spanning more than a decade, explained Dr. Daniel Barnett, an associate professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Barnett was working in 2008 on a project related to emergency preparedness and seeking resources across the country when he called the Butler County Health Department.

Hudson was enthusiastic about participating, even after the men realized Barnett had meant to contact a Butler County, Iowa department, not Missouri.

“He was a force of nature in the best sense of the word,” said Barnett. “He had a charisma and warm quality that really drew people into a project.

“I can’t even put into words what an important role he played in my professional life and on a personal level.”

The pair most recently worked together on a two-year project related to the opioid epidemic that included work to distribute to the community a medication to treat overdoses.

Hudson, Barnett and others traveled to Washington D.C. in September to meet with Sen. Roy Blunt about the opioid project, something Barnett says the senator was very interested in.

Women’s health was also a priority for Hudson, who helped transform and extend the work done by Butler County Health Department, said Mary Ann Allen, chair of the Butler County Health Department’s Board of Directors.

“We were one of the first of the rural Missouri counties to have a physician working in our women’s health center,” said Allen. “We really were able to do more in that department. We were able to have clinics for women who didn’t have insurance.”

Hudson was very innovative in reaching out to people who needed the health department’s services, she continued. That included adding evening clinics for families in need of WIC, who could not attend programs during the work day, and extending flu shot clinics to schools.

He also inspired his staff to achieve Missouri and national accreditation status, one of the very few Missouri counties to do so, Allen said, something of which they are all very proud.

“Robert was my friend and colleague for more than 20 years,” Allen said. “He was a confident leader and a public health expert who earned respect on both the state and national levels.

“From providing bicycle helmets for kids to tackling the opioid crisis, Robert was ready to take on any challenge that improved the health and wellbeing of this community. … He will be greatly missed.”

His efforts were felt at the state level as well, said Michelle Trupiano, executive director of the Missouri Family Health Council, Inc.

“Robert always jumped at the chance to try innovative approaches and was leading an effort to increase IPV/Substance Use screening in Southeast Missouri, recently giving a presentation on the project at the MFHC statewide family planning conference,” Trupiano said. “Robert implemented best practices and quality improvement strategies to increase BCHD’s Chlamydia screen rate. BCHD was able to increase their screening rate from 26% to 77%, a huge public health accomplishment.”

Trupiano also considered Hudson one of her “go-to people” for feedback regarding how the program was administered and how it could improve.

Hudson was a true professional and just an all-around great guy, said Butler County Sheriff Mark Dobbs, who recently worked with Hudson to secure funding for much needed upgrades to 911 dispatch equipment at his department. The two agencies planned to use the equipment to also help map areas of public health concerns.

“Without his help, we would have been in a very bad shape,” said Dobbs. “Robert was great to work with. He was someone I counted as an ally. Anytime I had an issue and needed help, he was always there.”

It is a sentiment that has been echoed by many this week.