Lake County Board of Health appoints Kelsey Maxey as public health director

The Lake County Board of Health on May 9 appointed Kelsey Maxey as director of the Lake County Public Health Agency, the board announced at its quarterly meeting.

Board membership moved and seconded a motion to appoint Maxey; members voiced “Aye. Aye.” and the motion carried. The meeting record does not name the individual mover or seconder in the transcript.

Maxey, who has served as deputy director and as interim director on multiple occasions, told the board she is “grateful to be here” and intends to step fully into the leadership role. “I was always leaving space for a leader. And I'm looking forward to really, really taking up that space as the leader, and guiding this team and working with you all… to make public health what this community needs,” Maxey said.

Julie, the departing director, was acknowledged by the board for her tenure and the board said it would send a note of gratitude for her work.

Maxey also told the board she recently attended a state public health executive director summit and warned that state funding timelines are uncertain. She said local staff must be prepared to execute contracts faster than in prior years because state funding may arrive later than usual and require faster turnaround locally. She described an existing approval threshold for staff signatures and said, as discussed at the meeting, the agency can sign contracts up to $25,000 and then place them on the consent agenda for the board’s review; contracts requiring legal review would follow that process.

The board passed the appointment and then heard program updates from Maxey, who will serve as the agency’s director going forward.