Door County's Health and Human Services committee has approved changes to how the county's public health division is staffed.
Under the plan approved Oct. 12, the department will refill a vacant public health strategist position, convert one public health nurse position into a strategist role and leave an environmental health position vacant, with plans to revisit that job in June. Two strategists and two registered nurses will be cross-trained, and officials said the change has no added cost beyond the existing approved budget.
Department leaders described the shift as part of a longer move away from hands-on clinical care and toward community assessment, strategic planning, data use, partnerships and health improvement work. They pointed to the county's beach monitoring program as an example, where staff test water and communicate advisories and closures to the public.
Officials said the two remaining public health nurses can handle duties that require clinical skills, such as vaccinations and complex communicable disease cases, and that temporary nurses could be brought in if demand for direct care rises sharply. A strategist can also take on environmental health duties such as responding to unsanitary housing, drinking water and sewage concerns, staff said.
The committee also heard that Kewaunee County Human Services Director Melissa Annoye will succeed Door County HHS Director Joe Krebsbach when he retires in January. Annoye, who has spent 19 years with Kewaunee County, is expected to begin transitioning into the role in early November and said she plans to spend her first six months listening and learning before making changes.
