FRANKSVILLE — Margaret Gesner, the head of the Central Racine County Health Department, will step down from her position at the end of this month as she heads into retirement following a year of crisis and change.
Gesner, who’s been CRCHD’s health officer since 2006, will remain with the department through the end of the year to support the new health officer and help ensure a smooth transition to a Racine County Public Health Division in 2022, the county announced in a news release issued Wednesday.
Jeff Langlieb will become the CRCHD health officer effective Sept. 1. He has a master’s degree in public health from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and a bachelor of science in nursing from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He has been with CRCHD for more than 10 years with a majority of his work being in management positions.
Under Gesner’s leadership, CRCHD saw expansion and also became one of only a handful of Wisconsin health departments that is accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board.
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“It’s been an honor to work with extraordinary staff and committed community leaders, and I am sincerely grateful to have served the citizens of Racine County for the past 14 years,” Gesner said in the release.
Gesner oversaw expansion
Gesner, whose career has included leadership roles in Arlington, Virginia; Boston; New York City; and Kenosha health departments, earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Goshen College and her master’s degree from the Harvard School of Public Health.
Under Gesner’s leadership, the health department grew significantly, the release stated. When the Western Racine County Health Department disbanded at the end of 2014, CRCHD began serving the additional municipalities in that jurisdiction, and today covers 118,184 residents in 14 Racine County cities, villages and towns.
Much of the programmatic growth under Gesner has been to address salient community health issues, including substance use and abuse, suicide prevention, infant mortality, childhood injury prevention, adverse childhood experiences, prenatal and postpartum support for mothers, food and well water safety and health care access.
Gesner and her team secured more than $2 million annually from local, state and federal grant funding to supplement base funding.
During her tenure, Gesner served as president of the Southeast Wisconsin Association of Local Health Departments and Boards, as well as the southeast Wisconsin representative to the Wisconsin Public Health Association. Gesner also represented CRCHD on many state and local committees.
Most recently, the 30-employee CRCHD went through a rigorous accreditation process, receiving national accreditation from the Public Health Accreditation Board in 2020. This credential has been earned by only 18 other local health departments in Wisconsin; recognition is often reserved for larger departments.
“Because of Margaret’s expert leadership, advanced knowledge and professional direction, CRCHD has served the Racine County population and the municipal bodies at an exceptional level of performance,” stated Fran Petrick, chair of Central Racine County Board of Health. “New programs have continued to be developed as a result of a community needs assessment and these new programs have almost always been accompanied by a grant to pay for said program.”
Petrick said Gesner and her team have been in a “continuous state of evaluation, program development and implementation” with the goal of improving the health of the population.
“This was particularly evidenced during the response to COVID-19,” he said.
‘A lasting impact’ from ‘a steady hand’
Also in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic developed, Gesner and the Central Racine County Board of Health proposed initiating conversations with County Executive Jonathan Delagrave to bring the CRCHD under the county, which will take effect next year.
Gesner and her staff additionally provided guidance to Racine County, as well as the 14 municipalities that CRCHD serves. Over the past year, CRCHD saw communicable disease caseloads increase 1479% due to COVID-19, stretching the capacity of all staff members.
“Margaret Gesner led her department through very difficult circumstances,” Delagrave said in the release. “I relied on her input as we made decisions that affected the citizens of Racine County, as well as the many companies that do business here. During the height of the COVID-19 crisis, Margaret was a steady hand who provided sound, practical advice.”
Gesner described public health as an area that has “long been an essential piece of our society’s infrastructure.” She said strengthening public health services and initiatives is a “critically important” component of making communities safe, healthy, sustainable and vibrant, and that’s why she devoted her career to such initiatives.
“Through her leadership,” Delagrave said, “she has built a program which will have a lasting impact for years to come.”