County health board picks one of its own as health officer, but with outgoing chief's help

SOUTH BEND — The St. Joseph County Health Department’s board voted to name one of its own as the new health officer on Wednesday.

She is Dr. Michelle Migliore, vice president of the board, whose term is due to expire at the end of 2028.

Migliore abstained from the 6-0 vote.

Migliore, who has worked locally in family medicine for 35 years, said she expects to keep the department’s progress moving forward.

“We’ve got everybody in place,” she said of a department with about 70 employees. “We’ve got a great team.”

March 20, 2024: Health officer touts 4-year strategic plan as board soon begins to seek her replacement

If confirmed by the county council and commissioners, she’d replace Dr. Diana Purushotham, who was named as health officer late last July and who has announced that her last day will be June 6.

But Purushotham would continue to provide guidance on strategies and management in an as-needed consulting role, even though she’ll be moving with her family to Baltimore. Her husband, a local surgeon, has landed a job there at the prestigious Johns Hopkins Hospital.

In an arrangement that the board has developed, Migliore and Purushotham would each work 18 to 20 hours per week, though both that and their pay are still being negotiated, board President John Linn said. Ultimately, he said, their combined pay cannot exceed the $250,000 annual salary that’s budgeted, which Purushotham has earned.

Purushotham has worked as a full-time health officer. Both Linn and Migliore said she’ll serve as a consultant only as long as needed, and they don’t yet know how long that will be. But Linn said that, at that time, the board could renegotiate Migliore’s four-year contract to include more hours, if needed.

“Dr. Purushotham has brought us to a good place,” board member Ellen Reilander, who serves on the personnel committee, said. “This was by far the best option for continuing in that direction.”

Linn likewise said this was an attempt to keep the “continuity” in a department that has gone through a restructuring and has established a four-year strategic plan, all in the past year under Purushotham’s guidance.

Also in the past year, the department has implemented expanded programs and community partnerships with the state’s Health First Indiana funding. Officials say it received $3.2 million in the first year, which is expected to almost double in the coming year.

Linn said there were three other candidates for the job who were “awesome in their own right” but that didn’t have as much administrative experience as Migliore did. Plus, she’s been on the board for five years, having been appointed by Mishawaka Mayor Dave Wood.

Linn credits her with being “proactive” and “tenacious,” yet with a “caring heart.”

Migliore said she currently works as a floating physician for the Indianapolis-based Marathon Health Group. That means she has the flexibility to pull back and work as few hours as she wants.

She earned her medical degree in 1988 from the College of Osteopathic Medicine at Des Moines University in Iowa.

She sits on the same personnel committee that recommended her. Migliore said she wasn’t considering the health officer role for herself until one of her fellow committee members asked her to. She said she stepped out of committee meetings whenever they talked about her as a job candidate.

The St. Joseph County Council has already set a special meeting at 5 p.m. May 28 to vote on Migliore as the new health officer. Commissioners will then vote on it.

If confirmed by the county commissioners and council, she would be the county's fourth health officer since March 2023.

Last year, retired local physician Dr. Joseph Cerbin had served as health officer for a four-month interim before Purushotham began work and after the prior health officer, Dr. Bob Einterz, resigned.

South Bend Tribune reporter Joseph Dits can be reached at 574-235-6158 or jdits@sbtinfo.com.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: St. Joseph County Health Department board votes for new health officer