Chicago’s Department of Public Health could soon have a new leader, less than two months after Mayor Brandon Johnson asked the previous commissioner to resign.
Johnson is tapping Dr. Garth Walker, a Rush Health executive, to lead the department. The move does require approval from the Chicago City Council.
“I’ve spent my career committed to centering a public health approach that addresses the social and economic conditions that shape people’s health and wellbeing,” Walker said in a news release.
Walker is an emergency physician who currently serves as the chief medical officer for Rush Health. During the pandemic, he was the deputy director for the Illinois Department of Public Health. He also served as a White House fellow with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during the Biden administration.
“Dr. Garth Walker has dedicated his career to ensuring every Chicagoan has the opportunity to live a healthy life, regardless of the neighborhood they call home,” Johnson said in a news release.
The department has had some controversy this year. NBC 5 Investigates obtained documents that revealed what preceded the resignation of the previous commissioner, Dr. Olusimbo “Simbo” Ige.
Documents obtained by NBC 5 Investigates showed a city employee filed a complaint alleging disability discrimination. The employee requested an accommodation, but there was a delay in getting the accommodation. The Department of Human Resources found Ige violated the city’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy.
However, Ige told NBC Chicago she signed off on every accommodation notice that came to her.
Separate from that HR investigation, there were also questions about how Ige handled federal COVID-19 grants.
Johnson asked Ige to step down in May, and she did. There’s been an interim leader ever since, First Deputy Commissioner Fikirte Wagaw.
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