Tompkins County
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Public Health Director
Contact: Stephen Estes, Deputy Commissioner of Personnel
Tompkins County Personnel
125 E. Court St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
607-274-5527
sestes@tompkins-co.org
Recently named by Forbes magazine as the “Third Smartest City in America” and by Relocate-America.com as the “Third Best Place to Relocate to in America,” Ithaca, the county seat of Tompkins County combines rural beauty with a metropolitan flair. Boasting a culturally, economically and civically engaged population of nearly 100,000 residents, Tompkins County is centrally located in the beautiful Finger Lakes Region of Upstate New York. Ithaca sits at the southern tip of majestic Cayuga Lake in an area of dramatic gorges and waterfalls; it has a small-town atmosphere while showcasing the qualities of a larger city through an abundance of restaurants, theatre, arts, shopping, cultural, and recreational activities. Beautiful rural areas, quiet villages, farms, and open land surround the diverse population center. Three institutions of higher learning – Cornell University, Ithaca College, and Tompkins Cortland Community College – make education our top industry. Our county, which is an employment center for the Upstate New York region, features a strong human services sector, local medical center, transportation network, regional airport, and three state parks.
Due to an anticipated retirement, we are seeking a visionary, collaborative, inspirational, ethical, and fiscally adept leader with outstanding people skills to aid Tompkins County government in accomplishing its mission of providing the highest quality public health services at a level affordable to community residents.
As our new Public Health Director you will:
- Plan, organize and direct a local public health program, including the surveillance and treatment of disease and disease trends through-out the County;
- Develop policies for approval by the Board of Health and/or Tompkins County Legislature;
- Oversee the development and implementation of policy and procedure manuals for Health Department activities, in accordance with state and local law and policies;
- Consult with the Medical Director in the development and implementation of policies with a medical basis;
- Direct the operation of a program of licensing and inspecting to insure the sanitary quality of food served in public eating places;
- Direct a public health program for promotion and supervision of water supply systems and sewage disposal systems, insofar as sanitation is concerned;
- Establish and collect fees from patients, persons or agencies for services rendered to patients in clinics operated by the health department and for nursing and therapy services (excluding physicians' services) rendered to people in their homes;
- Render fees collected to the Budget and Finance Director of the County at such times and in such manner as required;
- Initiate, implement and coordinate health and health education programs with public and private community based organizations and groups throughout the County;
- Collect and record information relating to births, deaths and other statistics necessary or appropriate to the maintenance of a responsive health program throughout the County;
- Coordinate department data collection, evaluate and interpret for the purpose of preparing budgets and proposing programmatic or personnel changes and developing grant applications;
- Participate in regional and local professional meetings and conferences to keep abreast of and coordinate health care developments and services;
- Carry out a public information and public relations program for the department;
- Serve as the registrar for the Vital Records Unit following all applicable state rules and regulations;
- Develop and administer appropriate staff orientation, evaluation and training programs;
- Appoint all department staff and supervise staff activities to maximize departmental cooperation, cooperation with other County departments and community based organizations, and overall department effectiveness;
- Draft and negotiate department contracts with other County departments or with non-county entities, and review and evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of those entities in carrying out County work on a cost effective basis;
- Share on-call responsibility with administrative staff for coverage of the Bioterrorism Preparedness Program cell phone.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
The successful candidate will have a Master's degree in a program which demonstrates the core competencies of a public health education (Biostatistics, Environmental Health Sciences, Epidemiology, Health Policy and Management, and Social and Behavioral Sciences) such as Public Health, Public Health Nursing, Health Administration, Community Health Education or Environmental Health AND will have at least two years of full-time paid (or the equivalent part-time and/or volunteer) administrative experience in a health related organization or government agency that demonstrates that the candidate possesses the knowledge and skills necessary to administer public health programs including: workforce and budget management; effective communication; effective establishment and implementation of policy or business goals; and compliance with legal requirements. The Public Health Director must possess a valid New York State driver's license at the time of appointment and maintain such license for the duration of employment. Please make sure that you clearly demonstrate your experience when completing the application for employment.
The County Administrator will make the appointment, which is subject to the approval of the Tompkins County Board of Health and the State Commissioner of Health. As a Public Officer, the Public Health Director must become a resident of Tompkins County within a reasonable period of time following appointment.
The County will provide our ideal talent with a full benefits package including New York State Retirement, a deferred compensation program, flexible spending plans, disability and vacation accrual. At this point, it has not been determined whether the position will be filled at 35 or 40 hours per week. The salary range is $81,854 to $94,857. A relocation allowance is available. This opportunity is not eligible for visa sponsorship.
Please review the full job description at http://www.tompkins-co.org/personnel/index.html. You may also download an application form from this website and return it as an email attachment if you wish. If you have questions or would like to request that an application be sent to you, contact Stephen Estes, Deputy Commissioner of Personnel, sestes@tompkins-co.org or 607-274-5527. Application review will begin in late March (we encourage applying by March 20th) however; applications will be accepted until a suitable candidate is found. Interviews will occur in April/May with an appointment anticipated for early June.
Tompkins County is an Equal Opportunity Employer with a demonstrated commitment to promoting diversity and furthering inclusion. Minority candidates and members of other under-represented groups are strongly encouraged to apply.