After nearly a year, Fayette County Health Department still has no leader
The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department is still without a leader nearly a year after its last commissioner was fired.
Kevin Hall, a spokesman for the department, said a search committee of the board of health is still looking for a new health commissioner.
“The search is underway and the board of health continues to review applications,” Hall said.
A firm date to have a new leader in place has not been set.
“There’s no timeline at this point because they want to focus on good candidates,” Hall said. “The search has been narrowed down to four candidates that are currently being interviewed, with minimal expenses as this time for some meals and mileage.”
Jack Cornett is currently serving as interim chief administrative officer for the department.
The department, which played a lead role in the county’s prevention and immunization efforts against COVID-19, has struggled for two years to find a permanent health commissioner.
Dr. Sheila Owens-Collins, who started the job on Jan. 17, 2023, was fired in April, after being on the job for three months.
The previous health commissioner stayed only six months.
Dr. Joel McCullough, who was hired in December 2021, resigned in July 2022. Another search was conducted and Owens-Collins was eventually appointed.
Dr. Kraig Humbaugh, who led the department during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, had to delay his retirement multiple times to ensure the department had leadership while it was trying to up immunization rates against COVID. Humbaugh served from 2016 to December 2021.
It’s not just Fayette County that has struggled to find a health department leader. Many public health professionals resigned during and just after the height of the coronavirus pandemic due to pushback against some of the social distancing and other recommendations. A 2021 Kaiser Health News and Associated Press analysis showed more than 180 state and local public health leaders in at least 38 states have resigned, retired or been fired since April 1, 2020, the analysis found.
The Kentucky General Assembly passed a law in 2023 that allowed health departments to hire non-physicians to fill commissioner and executive director positions if they met certain criteria. Prior to last year, health commissioners had to have a medical degree, which severely limited the pool of available applicants.
The health department has a medical clinic, oversees restaurant and other inspections, runs school nurse programs and operates a needle-exchange program, among other public health initiatives. It has a staff of around 170 employees and an operating budget of more than $30 million.
The health commissioner helps oversee the day-to-day operations of the health department.
