The new commissioner is currently the director of the joint Washington Ozaukee County Health Department. She worked in the office of Representative
Ron Kind (D-La Crosse) as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation health policy fellow for a one year period starting in 2018.
During her confirmation hearing, she expressed frustration with political disagreements that left her unable to use the suburban department’s authority to control the spread of the virus. Her department was releasing names of businesses and organizations with disease outbreaks before a lawsuit halted the practice.
“This has been an incredibly difficult 10 or 11 months for me,” said Johnson. She said even if she could impose health orders she would have issues with enforcement. “Straight forward answer: Do I think what we’ve done is enough? No.”
Email I became a lightning rod : Wisconsin health officers have been vilified and threatened during COVID-19, and some have quit
Madeline Heim and Mary Spicuzza, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Published
6:27 pm UTC Dec. 15, 2020
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A protester outside the Sheboygan County Courthouse in September shares a common criticism of public health officers: that by trying to regulate people s behavior to prevent the spread of COVID-19, they re overstepping their charge.
Gary Klein/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
As the coronavirus pandemic was first hitting Wisconsin in early spring, Tim Lawther issued a press release he hoped would help his community understand the risk of contracting the disease.