Updated: Lexington health department commissioner fired after three months on the job
Lexington’s health department is looking for a new commissioner again.
Dr. Sheila Owens-Collins, who started the job on Jan. 17, has been fired, according to a statement from the department.
“During a special meeting April 8, the Lexington-Fayette County Board of Health voted to remove Dr. Sheila Owens-Collins as Commissioner of Health,” said Kevin Hall, a spokesman for the department. “We cannot comment further on a personnel matter. The Board of Health continues to provide its full support to the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department staff as they continue fulfilling the agency’s mission of ‘helping Lexington be well.’”
Owens-Collins, who was appointed by the board on Jan. 10, had previously served as medical director of Health Equity-Innovations, Strategies and Outcomes Research at Johns Hopkins HealthCare.
Collins was not available for comment but Scott White, attorney for Collins, said the firing was a shock and he hopes to mediate a return to work.
“The action of the board was stunning to Dr. Collins. She had no forewarning and in fact had a very enjoyable and productive meeting with the mayor the day before,” White said. “She believes that she was doing her job, that she’d only been on the job for about two months and looks forward to trying to resolve this issue so she can go back to serving the people of Fayette County as the health commissioner.”
Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton, through a spokeswoman, declined to comment.
White said they plan to appeal the open-meetings notice and will request a hearing before the full board on the termination.
This is the second health department commissioner to leave the position in less than a year.
Before her appointment, the post had been vacant since Dr. Joel McCullough, who was hired in December 2021, resigned in July 2022.
The previous commissioner, Dr. Kraig Humbaugh, delayed his planned retirement because of the COVID pandemic. The health department identified a candidate to replace Humbaugh, but they turned down the offer. Humbaugh decided to stay on as commissioner for an additional six months before McCullough was hired.
Humbaugh, who was awarded the 2023 Dr. Rice C. Leach Public Health Hero Award on April 10 by the board, was a pediatrician who had been Lexington’s health commissioner from 2016 to 2021.
What does the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department do?
The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department has played a key role in the city’s efforts to provide information, testing and immunizations to residents during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. From July 2021 to July 2022, it administered more than 6,000 COVID vaccinations, according to its annual report.
The health department also has a health 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.
It is separate from the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government. It’s board is appointed by the mayor.
Local health departments across the country have struggled to attract and retain health department employees and directors since the COVID pandemic.
This story was originally published April 13, 2023 at 10:24 AM.
