ASHLAND — The county’s new health commissioner wants to change the community’s automatic association to COVID-19 with the health department.
“We’re not seen as an important community partner … I want to make sure that covid is not the only thing they think about when they about the health department,” said Vickie Taylor, who recently became the Ashland County Health Department’s Commissioner.
The health department has operated with an interim commissioner, Dr. David Tomchak, since November 2020, when Heather Reffett was terminated after an eight-month stint.
The Ashland County Health Board did not offer specifics as to why it voted to terminate Reffett from the position.
“Ms. Taylor’s knowledge and education makes her a perfect fit as health commissioner of Ashland County’s Health Department,” said Ron Puglisi, the Board of Health’s president.
The Board of Health appointed Taylor on June 8 and she began working in her new role June 9.
Before joining the health department in June 2020, Taylor was at Ashland University for about 20 years with administrative roles in its correctional education and seminary programs.
She graduated from AU in 2020 with a master’s degree in corporate and strategic communication.
The commissioner’s role is different from the department’s medical director in that a commissioner oversees the daily operations of the office, which employs 15 full-time staffers and one part-time nurse.
The medical director makes decisions on health issues, Taylor said.
Taylor was hired as the department’s accreditation coordinator in June 2020 in order to meet the state’s requirement that all county health departments must be accredited by the national Public Health Accreditation Board.
State lawmakers in 2013 mandated all local health districts to apply for accreditation by 2018 and to become accredited by 2020. When the pandemic hit, legislators extended the deadline to March 2022.
PHAB accreditation demonstrates districts are meeting or exceeding a unified set of national standards and “is a validation that a public health department is capable of providing public health services at an appropriate scale for its community and has the capability to help improve population health,” says the Ohio Department of Health.
Before the height of the pandemic, Taylor said the county health department had completed around 60% of the accreditation process and was on track to meet the March 3 deadline. But when COVID-19 led to workplace changes and the collective priority shifted toward fighting the virus, accreditation work slowed.
“Ms. Taylor’s education and experience with the health department over the last year has given her the breadth and depth of knowledge that gives the Board of Health confidence that she will be good for our health department and Ashland County as our new health commissioner,” said Dr. Tomchak.
One of Taylor’s goals is to get the health department accredited before the deadline. She’s optimistic that will happen. She also hopes to bring back educational programs to raise awareness to the public on what the health department does.
“We’ll do that by being more visible to the community. We’re going to have a series on our Facebook page on what the health department does,” she said, adding she plans on being a part of county commissioners’ meetings and being on community boards.
Taylor also hopes to launch health education events again on topics like stress management, eating correctly and information clinics on different communicable diseases.
Another goal involves improving customer service. She’s already started by adding a receptionist the health department’s front office.
“We’re opening back up the doors to allow the public to get birth and death certificates on the same day,” Taylor said.
Taylor said she’s excited for her new role in the health department, which she said has a good, hardworking staff.
“We want to meet the needs of the community,” she said.
As the sponsor of Ashland Source's Life and Culture section, Brethren Care Village continues its commitment to enriching lives and promoting a vibrant community.
