COLUMBUS, Ohio – Governor Mike DeWine is reforming the leadership of the Ohio Department of Health and promoting the state’s chief medical officer to lead the department while he returns the current ODH director to his old job.
Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, formerly the state’s chief medical officer, will now lead the state health department, replacing Stephanie McCloud, who is returning to lead the state’s Bureau of Workers Compensation.
Dan Tierney, a spokesman for the governor’s office, declined to comment on the move. Governors’ office observers said McCloud, a longtime DeWine assistant, had been temporarily brought in to lead the department while Vanderhoff, previously an official with Ohio Health’s medical chain, gained more state experience.
“Stephanie McCloud and Bruce Vanderhoff have worked as a team, running the Ohio Department of Health for the past nine months,” DeWine said in a statement. “I am pleased that Dr. Vanderhoff has agreed to become director of the Ohio Department of Health. His medical and organizational expertise will help the department in the further development and further handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. “
McCloud has headed the state health department since November. She had no prior medical or public health experience. DeWine had been looking for someone to lead ODH since former director Dr. Amy Acton resigned last June amid polarized public opinion over the DeWine administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. In September, DeWine elected Joan Duwve, a South Carolina public health officer, to lead ODH. But Duwve quickly pulled back, referring to the harassment Acton had received.
Vanderhoff and McCloud’s job changes will take effect on Monday. They require confirmation by the regional senate.
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