Now that acting Berrien County Health Officer Courtney Davis has announced her resignation, the immediate question for county leadership becomes how to replace her. Berrien County Administrator Brian Dissette tells WSJM News Davis was serving as both the deputy and acting health officer role. He does say the county has some internal staff that could possibly take over. It will at least be a few weeks before the county has a new health officer. Davis announced her resignation, effective November 3, this week. She said the politics surrounding COVID-19 have made it impossible for her to do her job effectively. Also resigning is health department spokesperson Gillian Conrad. We asked Dissette if they were pressured by the administration or the board of commissioners.
“From the administration, no,” Dissette said. “The desire was to try to keep them, and I’m sad to see them go. I wish them nothing but the best. And from the board, the board did not ask for them to leave. The board just has had very active feedback from members of the public, both pro and anti mask, and I think between some of the heated rhetoric at the public meetings and on social media and then just nationally how public health has been handled, I think that both of these managers decided it was time for them to take their leave.”
Dissette says feedback from the public regarding COVID measures simply got much more intense over the past few months, and that made the pressure on health department staff too heavy to shoulder. A new county health officer will have to be approved by both the county board and the state health department.
