Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder appointed Oakland County Health & Human Services Director Kathleen Forzley to a four-year term on Michigan’s newly-formed Public Health Advisory Council. The council initially will develop an action plan for implementing the recommendations of the Michigan Public Health Advisory
Commission which released a report in April recommending steps to ensure the protection and promotion of public health and safety in the state.
“Kathy has a reputation for excellence in bringing together public and private agencies to work together to enhance public health in Oakland County,” Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson. “Her knowledge, experience and skills in this area will be invaluable to the Public Health Advisory Council.”
The council also will provide advice about emerging issues in public health, monitor the effectiveness of Michigan’s public health response system, and review multiagency efforts to support collaboration and a unified approach on public health responses.
“I’m eager to represent the public on the Public Health Advisory Council and bring Oakland County’s best practices in public health to the table,” Forzley said.
“We’ve learned how much can be accomplished in public health through communication and collaboration, which is an important focus of what I intend to bring to the council.”
Forzley, who will remain Oakland County health & human services director, will represent the general public on the council until her term expires Nov. 1, 2021. She is the first woman to serve as the director of Oakland County Health & Human Services, a position she has held since her predecessor retired April 28. She served as the county’s health officer and manager of the Oakland County Health Division since 2008. She was the administrator for Oakland County Environmental Health Services from 2003-2008. Prior to that, she was an environmental health services supervisor from 2001-2003.
Forzley joined Oakland County in 1992 as a public health sanitarian. Forzley holds a master of public administration degree and dual Bachelor of Arts in biology and Bachelor of Science in environmental health degrees, all from Oakland University.
Forzley joins a long list of individuals from the Patterson administration whose expertise Snyder has tapped to help state government:
• Chief Deputy County Executive Gerald Poisson serves on the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) Executive Committee.
• Deputy County Executive Robert J. Daddow had a role on the governor’s transition team.
• Deputy County Executive/CIO Phil Bertolini is a board m ember for the Michigan Municipal Services Authority. He also is involved with a group started by
Snyder’s CIO called the CIO Kitchen Cabinet, a body of select CIOs from around Michigan who meet to advise the State of Michigan on IT matters.
• Director of Central Services J. David VanderVeen is on the Michigan Aeronautics Commission.
• Kristie Everett Zamora, Oakland County’s arts, culture & film coordinator, sits on the Commission on Services to the Aging.
• Former Deputy County Executive Douglas Smith held the position of senior vice president of the MEDC until the position was eliminated.
• Former Oakland County Risk Manager Julie Secontine had served on Michigan’s Public Safety Communications Interoperability Board and later as state fire marshal.
“Oakland County has a reputation as being the best managed in the country because of the outstanding individuals in my administration,” Patterson said. “I’m always pleased when any of them can expand their role in public service.”
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