Suzanne Hegarty, interim director since September of the Dallas County Public Health Department, was appointed to the position of executive director Monday by the Dallas County Board of Health.
Hegarty assumes the top role after filling in for about six months following the resignation of former Executive Director Kelli Vellinga.
“It feels good,” Hegarty said of her appointment. She said the mission of the Dallas County Public Health Department remains the same: “Healthy people in healthy communities and environments.”
The health department has undergone some administrative restructuring since it ceased providing home nursing care in 2017 and maternal child health home visits in 2018. There are now three administrative divisions within the department: public health, environmental health and community health.
Administrative duties on the public health side are shared by Public Health Program Coordinator Amy Short and Public Health Nurse Rhonda Shoafstall.
The Dallas County Community Health Administrator is Abigail Chihak, and the Dallas County Environmental Health Administrator is Ted Trewin.
Along with Monday’s appointment of Hegarty to the department directorship, title changes for Short and Chihak were also approved by the health board.
“That just reflects that both of them have had expanded duties for a few months,” Hegarty said. “We’re just getting their job titles caught up to where they’ve been performing.”
Hegarty said the department has evolved to serve the needs of the fastest-growing county in the state.
“It has changed a little,” she said. “We’re always looking at our programs and our needs assessment and health-improvement plan and what we can do to make healthy choices the easiest choices in Dallas County.”
Among the essential public health services delivered by the Dallas County Public Health Department are communicable disease surveillance and investigation, immunization services, emergency preparedness activities and community health needs assessment and health improvement planning. The department’s health navigation function is also growing in importance.
The Dallas County Board of Supervisors at their Tuesday meeting received and filed the Dallas County Board of Health’s Monday appointment of Hegarty along with the other changes in the department’s staff classifications.
Membership on the five-person Dallas County Board of Health, which oversees the operation of the Dallas County Public Health Department, is stable after last fall’s rapid-fire series of resignations.
County health board members now include Dallas County Supervisor Kim Chapman of Adel, who chairs the board, Vice Chair Monty Button of Adel, Dr. Joshua Kindt of Waukee, Ashley Hanrahan Sunderman of Waukee and Samantha Brincks Uhlenhake of Waukee.
