15 Facts About Val Arkoosh

From 2016 to 2023, Arkoosh was chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners, where she served alongside Shapiro during his tenure on the board.

Val Arkoosh formerly served on the board of health of Montgomery County.

Val Arkoosh unsuccessfully ran to represent Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district in 2014 and for the United States Senate in 2022.

Val Arkoosh earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Northwestern University in 1982 and a doctorate from University of Nebraska College of Medicine in 1986.

Val Arkoosh earned her Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2007.

Val Arkoosh was a professor of clinical anesthesiology and clinical obstetrics and gynecology at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania and previously taught at Thomas Jefferson University Sidney Kimmel Medical College and Drexel University College of Medicine, where she chaired the school's anesthesiology department from 1999 to 2004.

In 2007, Val Arkoosh joined the board of the National Physicians Alliance.

Val Arkoosh chaired the Board of Health of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania from 2011 to 2014.

Val Arkoosh ran for Congress in 2014 for Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district when Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz vacated the seat to run for governor.

Val Arkoosh came in fourth place in the Democratic primary, losing to eventual winner Brendan Boyle.

Val Arkoosh served as vice chair of the board until November 2016 when she was made chair.

Val Arkoosh was given a second term as chair in 2020 after being reelected in 2019.

Val Arkoosh dropped out of the race in February 2022 after receiving just 17 votes of support out of the 290 Pennsylvania Democratic Committeemen.

In January 2023, Val Arkoosh was nominated by governor-elect Josh Shapiro to serve as secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services.

Val Arkoosh was diagnosed with COVID-19 in January 2022, and reported mild symptoms.