News Photo by Crystal Nelson District Health Department No. 4 Environmental Sanitarian Naomi Barnes and Public Health Nurse Alicia Wysocki prepare administrative paperwork needed for a drive-thru coronavirus testing site at the Alpena County fairgrounds.

ALPENA — Nearly a year after leaders at District Health Department No. 4 promised reforms to improve their relationship with employees, county commissioners who oversee the department are confident things are headed in the right direction.

In August 2019, former Health Department employees publicly criticized the department’s leadership, specifically Health Officer Denise Bryan, who runs the department. The former employees called Bryan incompetent.

In response to the criticism, new positions were created, vacancies were filled, and new measures were created to express appreciation for employees.

Cheboygan County Commissioner Mike Newman, who serves on the Health Department’s board, expressed concern about Health Department leadership during meetings where employees aired grievances.

But he said recently he no longer has concerns about management after changes were made.

“I do not have those concerns right now,” Newman said. “In talking to the staff, I’m not getting phone calls, I’m not getting complaints.”

Former employees who publicly criticized Bryan could not be reached for comment on this story.

Judy Greer was appointed to a newly created position of deputy health officer. The position was designed to work closely with Bryan and serve as a liaison to staff when Bryan is not in the office. Bryan, who also manages District Health Department No. 2, is contracted to provide service to DHD No. 4

Board Vice Chairman Carl Altman, a Presque Isle County commissioner, said the decision to hire Greer has been to the department’s benefit.

Bryan’s most recent annual review, in December 2019, recognized Bryan worked cooperatively with the board and the executive team as the Health Department was confronted with human resource issues. The review said Bryan “maintained a positive demeanor with a ‘can do’ attitude.”

Health Department board Chairman Bob Adrian, an Alpena County commissioner, said DHD No. 2 was willing to share Bryan as health officer when DHD No. 4 didn’t have the money to hire a full-time chief executive.

Adrian said Bryan started about a year before the department was due for its accreditation.

He said Bryan went through every one of the Health Department’s policies and procedures, and brought things into compliance. He said Bryan took on a huge load because the organization had slipped on keeping up on its policies.

He noted the change in management and policies was difficult for some staff.

“During my time there, when we had the employee issues, we had changed the workplace, and, so, for many of the people, that was a change in their job, and they were unhappy with how those changes went about,” he said.

Calls to Nathan Scott, president of the Health Department employee union, could not be reached for comment.

Health Department board member and Alpena County Commissioner Brenda Fournier said she had received some of the initial complaints from staff and took the complaints to the board. However, she said things are now running very smoothly, and she has not received any more complaints.

Bryan said that, when she began working at the Health Department in 2017, the organization was operating under a “status quo” and changes were needed to technology, policy and procedures, and staffing.

Bryan said she worked with the leadership team to begin incident command training, had the board change the Health Department’s workplace plans so staff could meet over the internet, and added an epidemiologist as a shared position with DHD No. 2.

“I think, if the pandemic would have hit in 2017, my first year there, I think it would have been a very challenging time,” Bryan said. “Having a few years to do these improvements, it positioned the organization to switch into incident command mode and they never missed a beat.”

In the months since promising reform, Health Department leadership has focused on improving the morale of staff at the Health Department and adding more staff there to lighten the workload.

Board member Bert LaFleche, a Montmorency County commissioner, said the board recently signed certificates of appreciation for staff.

Adrian, the chairman, said the board typically holds a training day with staff at which board members are able to talk and listen to employees, but haven’t been able to do so with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Bryan said that, throughout years and years of attrition, DHD No. 4 became a very small health department. She said officials are now able to add positions and expertise into the organization with grants and state and federal virus relief money.

The department, for example, was lacking an epidemiologist, and Bryan said she was able to fund that position through a liquor tax grant, which has been renewed for another year.

Additionally, Health Department officials have been able to utilize COVID-19 relief funding to hire an immunization coordinator and an environmental sanitarian who also has expertise with foodborne illness.

Health Department board member Daryl Peterson, a Montmorency County commissioner, said the board currently supports Bryan, and that she’s doing a good job overseeing the Health Department’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Peterson said employees have done a good job, too.

“Our major focus now is to try to get through this virus stuff and inform the public on when something does happen, and they’ve done a pretty good job of that,” he said.