La Plata County is searching for a public health director – for the third time.
The Board of Health, which oversees the newly jurisdictional La Plata County Public Health, voted Monday to restart the recruitment process rather than extend an offer to the sole finalist, Michael Byrns.
Board members voted unanimously on a motion offered by Board President Patricia Supanich-Wall after an hourlong executive session. There was no discussion among the members before the vote.
Byrns is a toxicologist and the assistant director of health at the Rhode Island Department of Health. He visited and interviewed with county staff members and the health board last week.
In an interview after the vote, Supanich-Wall said the decision was based largely on feedback provided to the board, as well as the absence of several key elements of experience.
“He has lots of tools in the toolbox, but some critical ones needed some additional development,” she said.
The board is seeking a candidate who has experience managing a large budget and more people. The position supervises nearly 50 people at the public health department – Byrns has only managed two direct reports, Supanich-Wall said.
Board members were unaware of this fact when he was selected as one of two finalists.
The county’s Human Resources Department will oversee recruitment again and will repost the job listing Wednesday. The application will be open for three weeks and the board hopes to sift through candidates in early June before scheduling interviews.
As a committee of county leaders sifts through applications, they will have in-hand direct questions from the Board of Health with which to narrow the pool.
“The Board of Health will create questions that will be asked to all of them (the first pool of candidates) to make sure that there are no gaps real or perceived in that process,” said county spokesman Ted Holteen.
Supanich-Wall said the board will want to know about specific experience with leadership.
“Leadership (is) a big component, culture – how have you gone about change management and promoting a positive culture within an organization – and some things like financial leadership and HR functions around mentoring direct and indirect reports, that’s really critical,” she said.
This will be the third time in less than a year the county has tried to hire a public health director.
In May 2023, the Board of County Commissioners seized the power to hire a health director from the newly assembled transitional health board. The move, which officials said was necessary in order to quickly appoint a leader before San Juan Basin Public Health dissolved at the year’s end, prompted the resignation of three top board members.
But the process hit a stumbling block in June, when one finalist for the job dropped out. Tiffany Switzer, then the interim executive director of SJBPH who had three years’ experience as the department’s deputy director, was not pursued as the sole finalist.
Instead, the BOCC voted to continue recruitment, and the county hired Interim Director Tracy Anselmo in August.
The last job listing offered an annual salary range of $114,500 to $143,100.
rschafir@durangoherald.com
