The Board of County Commissioners confirmed Rachael Banks as the next Health Department Director on Oct. 5, expressing confidence that the leader who steered Oregon and Multnomah County’s public health efforts through the COVID-19 pandemic will meet the significant challenges facing the County today.
Banks will oversee 1,600 full-time Health Department employees across five divisions: Public Health, Behavioral Health, Integrated Clinical Services (the large primary care and dental clinic system,) Corrections Health and the Health Officer division.
Like health services nationwide, the Health Department has struggled in the post-pandemic era, facing critical staff shortages while experiencing surges in behavioral health and substance use disorder needs.
“Our health department deserves a leader like Rachael in this moment,’’ said Chair Vega Pederson. “We believe in a future that includes health, wellness and safety as achievable goals, especially for Multnomah County residents who are currently our most vulnerable. And it is going to take Rachael's unique perspective and values to lead this way.”
“Rachael,’’ the Chair said, “welcome home.”
Commissioner Susheela Jayapal echoed the Chair’s enthusiasm, saying, “You are so well qualified to step back in at, I would argue, a time that is in some ways even more complicated and difficult. Responding to a virus — a worldwide virus — was unprecedented. But now that that has receded to some extent, we are facing all of the really deep-rooted challenges that existed and were exacerbated by that.”
Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards also expressed her support, after meeting with Banks to discuss the fentanyl crisis. In 2019, Brim-Edwards noted, fentanyl claimed 26 County residents, rising to 209 people in 2022.
“I believe from talking with you that you are going to be a person who pushes forward Multnomah County in a leadership role of tackling these crises and that you value both innovation and also bold action,” she said. “And I think that’s exactly what we need.”
Chief Operating Officer Serena Cruz thanked everyone who helped bring Banks forward, including the County’s Talent Acquisitions Manager Jenny O’Meara; Karras Consulting, which led the national recruitment; and Harold Odhiambo, chair of the Community Health Center Board, the patient-majority board that governs the Multnomah County Health Department's community health centers.
Banks fills a vacancy created in January 2023 when then-Director Ebony Clarke left to lead the Behavioral Health division at the Oregon Health Authority.
Cruz and and Chair Vega Pederson offered special thanks to Valdez Bravo, the Health Department’s operations director who, although new himself to the County, stepped up as interim Health Director, along with Deputy Operations Director Chantell Reed.
But Cruz also looked back to the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when, in her former role at Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center, she saw Banks tackle the disproportionate number of illness and deaths among people in the Latine/Latinx community.
“I can tell you that we breathed a huge sigh of relief because we felt seen and heard and prioritized in a way that the pandemic was affecting the community. So you had a huge impact on me, Rachael, at that time that was so precarious and dangerous. And I know you had that impact on many other community leaders across the state,” Cruz said.
Banks thanked the Board, her mother, mother-in-law and sister in the audience, Bravo and Reed, and all the Health Department staff who came to the Boardroom, including Amy Gredler, who first hired Banks at the County in 2002.
“I love the Health Department,” Banks said. “I know firsthand how dedicated people are, how passionate they are, the beautiful communities that we serve. My top priority is really supporting our workforce, restoring the workforce that has worked so hard, short-staffed, long hours, dedicated to community — and really supporting that stabilization.”
“Also top of mind is stopping the unnecessary and devastating overdoses we’re seeing in our community as well as folks have talked about, the behavioral health crisis,” she added.
Finally, Banks said, she looked forward to working with the Chair and commissioners in their role as the County’s Board of Health and having “Multnomah County be that lead strategist and really stepping into our lead role in solving some of our most complex challenges.”
The Board members in attendance then voted unanimously to confirm Banks for the position. (Commissioners Lori Stegmann and Sharon Meieran were absent for the meeting and the vote.)