County’s top health official to leave mid-pandemic

Washington Ozaukee Public Health Director Kirsten Johnson will be leaving, likely at the end of February, to take a similar role as the City of Milwaukee’s health commissioner, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett announced last week.

“Kirsten Johnson will bring experience, knowledge, and commitment to the Milwaukee Health Department,” Barrett said in a press release. “Kirsten has an extensive history of leadership and service in the field of public health. Her expertise will strengthen the efforts of our health department as we continue to navigate the many challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Local officials said Milwaukee’s gain is a loss for Ozaukee and Washington counties but they have confidence the department will continue to function smoothly under the leadership of its remaining management team.

Ozaukee County Administrator Jason Dzwinel, Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann, Ozaukee County Board Chairman Lee Schlenvogt and other officials plan to meet this week to discuss the process to replace Johnson.

Johnson told the Washington Ozaukee Public Health Board on Friday she expects her current staff to ably handle the department on an interim basis.

“Kirsten has great leadership in her management team; succession will be smooth,” Dzwinel said.

Johnson said she is excited by the opportunity to be the top public health official in Milwaukee.

“There is a tremendous opportunity to have an impact,” she said in an interview. “If you look at Washington and Ozaukee counties, they are at the top in the state in terms of quality of health and Milwaukee is at the bottom. 

“There are some significant health disparities,” she said. “Structural and systemic racism have contributed to those disparities. There is an opportunity to make meaningful progress, I believe.

“It will take all the expertise and experience I gained here. It’s really been an honor to serve the people of Ozaukee and Washington County.”

Johnson directed the Ozaukee County Health Department for five years beginning in 2010 and then helped oversee its merger with the Washington County Health Department.

She and her department have earned kudos from supervisors and administrators in both counties for their response to the Covid-19 crisis.

“Ten years ago, when I was human resources director for the county, I led the recruitment for the health officer and offered the role to Kirsten Johnson,” Dzwinel said in a statement. “When she accepted the job, I told (then Administrator) Tom Meaux that Kirsten would blow the doors off and transform our County Health Department.

“Kirsten has led the shift in Ozaukee Public Health to a community-partnered approach that is forward thinking. The public should not need to look any further than the department’s Covid response in the last 10 months.  Under Kirsten’s leadership the team has waded through incredible levels of uncertainty, fear, political acrimony and public anger that was wrongly directed at their work. Despite the challenges, any honest assessment of their work shows true success.”

Schoemann concurred.

“The appointment of Kirsten Johnson is an excellent selection for the City of Milwaukee,” he said in a statement. “Kirsten is a tough, innovative, intelligent leader who is passionate about her work and the people she serves.”

Johnson replaces Jeanette Kowalik, who left as Milwaukee’s health commissioner in September, complaining about backlash from politicians and the public over her Covid-19 response management and saying she was “limited due to factors that are out of my control.”

Johnson is expected to be confirmed by the Milwaukee Common Council in early February and will likely assume her new duties by the end of the month.

Johnson received her master of public health degree from Tulane University of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and was formerly a health policy fellow at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a health policy advisor to U.S. Rep. Ron Kind and a program manager at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1997.