Board of Health Statement on Dr. Kowalik’s resignation as Commissioner of Milwaukee Health Department

The City of Milwaukee Board of Health would like to thank Dr. Jeanette Kowalik for her service to the Milwaukee community over the past 2 years as Health Commissioner.

Dr. Kowalik began her appointment during a time of transition at the Milwaukee Health Department (MHD). She brought a racial equity focus to all of her work. Evidence of this focus was making Milwaukee the first city to declare racism a public health crisis in 2019. Early on in the COVID-19 pandemic response, Dr. Kowalik collected the data that identified what we now know is the increased impact of the COVID19 pandemic on communities of color, specifically Black, Hispanic and Indigenous community members. This allowed for culturally-responsive messaging and interventions to help stop the spread. She also led the department in creating orders that relied on data to inform when and how to resume business operations.

From day one, Dr. Kowalik worked to restructure the department, setting it up for success after her departure. We will continue to work very closely with the Commissioner, interim staff and the department to continue the high-quality work of the health department.

We want to wish Dr. Kowalik well on her next endeavor and thank her for her time spent serving our community. Milwaukee benefited from her leadership and passion for public health.

Yours in Health,

Caroline Gomez-Tom, MSW, Board President
Julia Means, RN
Ericka Sinclair, MS, MPH
LaNelle Ramey, MPA
Ruthie Burich-Weatherly, BA
Alderwomen Chantia Lewis
Wujie Zhang, PhD
Bria Grant

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.