MANSFIELD, Ohio – According to the Association of Ohio Health Commissioners, a health commissioner oversees the overall health of a community. That role in Richland County has been difficult to sustain in recent years. What does it take?
Currently, Richland County is served by an interim health commissioner following an incident on July 11 which placed Health Commissioner Martin Tremmel on administrative leave.
Beth Bickford, Executive Director of the Association of Ohio Health Commissioners, said a health commissioner has the unique and important role and responsibility in the community to look out for the public’s health, whether studying the impact of smoking rates or handling infectious disease outbreaks.
“The health department in my opinion is the one agency looking to help the overall community – that’s the perspective the health commissioner brings to the table,” she said. “From the perspective of the health department and by extension the health commissioner, I don’t know that anyone else in the community has that unique role.”
A vacancy in the health commissioner’s office was created on July 15, when the Richland Public Health Board met in executive session at a special Board of Health meeting to place Tremmel on administrative leave. During the same special Board of Health meeting, the Board of Health appointed Daniel Burwell, D.O. as Acting Health Commissioner effective July 20.
A press release issued by Selby Dorgan, Director of Health Promotion and Education at Richland Public Health stated, “The Board of Health will not comment further on the subject pending the resolution of Mr. Tremmel’s legal matters,” including the process of hiring a new health commissioner.
Tremmel became interim health commissioner effective July 30, 2013 after previous health commissioner Stan Saalman was placed on paid administrative leave during an investigation regarding a dispute between Saalman and another employee of the health department. He was then appointed health commissioner on Jan. 27, 2014.
Exactly two years prior on July 11, 2013, the Richland County Sheriff’s Office responded to an incident at the Richland County Health Department between Saalman and employee Jennifer Frazier, where Saalman allegedly screamed at Frazier and put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her iduring an argument.
Saalman was never charged following the incident. On Oct. 1, 2013, the Board of Health met in a special session to accept Saalman’s retirement and agreed to pay him a $20,535 separation and release agreement.
According to CareersinPublicHealth.net, a health commissioner in Ohio earns an average salary of $59,000. The national average salary of a health commissioner is around $62,000, however this figure may vary depending on experience and desired work setting.
The Ohio Revised Code (ORC) section 3709.11 provides a number of guidelines pertaining to the appointment of a health commissioner, which shall be appointed by the Board of Health.
The ORC states “the person appointed as commissioner shall be a licensed physician, licensed dentist, a licensed veterinarian, licensed podiatrist, licensed chiropractor, or the holder of a master’s degree in public health or an equivalent master’s degree in a related health field as determined by the members of the board of health in a general health district.”
“Many public health related and infectious diseases are animal born, there are a lot of animal-born illnesses that relate to the infectious disease monitoring and oversight that local public health has to do, explained Bickford.
“There are a lot of other things they would have to learn about, clinical services they provide might not be as familiar, but many infectious diseases they would be right at home in that situation.”
Health departments are required by law to employ a Medical Director if the Health Commissioner is not a physician. The ORC states that when the commissioner is not a physician, “the board shall provide for adequate medical direction of all personal health and nursing services by the employment of a licensed physician as medical director on either a full-time or part-time basis. The medical director shall be responsible to the board of health.”
“Historically and traditionally, physicians are not necessarily trained in public health, they’re trained more in healthcare and the acute care side of the health system,” said Bickford. “In public health there’s a whole different realm of environmental health, infectious disease, community-based and a population aspect of health creating environments conducive to health.
“Ohio doesn’t even require the director of the Ohio Department of Health to be a physician,” she added. “I think all can be equally effective.”
According to the ORC, the health commissioner “shall be charged with the enforcement of all sanitary laws and regulations in the district,” and “shall keep the public informed in regard to all matters affecting the health of the district.”
A health commissioner’s residency varies quite a bit, according to Bickford, and it is not required that a health commissioner reside in the same area they service.
“It varies from place to place,” she said. “Some are commuting from a few counties away, others live there. Some boards have that expectation, others don’t.”
As is true of most leadership positions, Bickford emphasized a health commissioner is generally a person who works well with others, has different responsibilities in their community, and is a good person to bring people together to discuss things of mutual concern and interest, regardless of their educational preparation.
“It takes leadership in the whole community to make a difference in some of these issues like infant mortality or opioid addiction. The health commissioner’s ability to bring those folks together and have productive discussions is an important thing to be able to do and to do successfully,” she said.
“The health department in my opinion is the one agency looking to help the overall community – that’s the perspective the health commissioner brings to the table,” Beth Bickford said.
