A Facebook fan group dedicated to Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton, MD, MPH, has reached over 55,000 members after it was started earlier this month amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The group, entitled “Dr. Amy Acton Fan Club,” is comprised of “grateful and concerned citizens who admire Dr. Amy Acton’s medical expertise and compassion,” according to the group description.

“We believe she is to be commended and recognized for her excellence in pandemic leadership,” the group’s admins said in the description.

The group contains comments from Ohioans all over the state praising Dr. Acton and Gov. Mike DeWine’s strategy towards combating the coronavirus crisis.

“I have to put this out there, I did not vote for Gov DeWine but his leadership and the way he, Lt Gov Husted and Dr Acton have handled this pandemic has impressed me greatly,” Melinda Hines wrote in the group.

“Today I was assigned to work the COVID 19 information hotline. I tried to imagine with each caller how Dr. Acton would respond. I tried to replicate her compassion and her calm with every call I took as best I could,” Bridgid Cornell, who says she is a registered nurse with the Ohio Department of Health, said on the page.

Acton was appointed director of health for the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) by Governor Mike DeWine in February 2019. A licensed physician in preventive medicine with a master’s degree in public health, Dr. Acton has more than 30 years of experience in medical practice, government and community service, healthcare policy and advocacy, academic and nonprofit administration, consulting, teaching, and data analysis, according to her biography on the Ohio.gov website.

To check out the fan page, click here.