County health officer’s resignation peels back debate over public health

After two years as county health officer, Dr. Greg Loomis accuses county officials of dragging their feet, doing ‘such stupid things with so much enthusiasm’ on public health

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COUNTY HEALTH OFFICER’S RESIGNATION PEELS BACK DEBATE OVER PUBLIC HEALTH

Members of the Tippecanoe County Health Board and county elected officials will meet Monday to talk about whether the county needs – and can afford – to move its health officer job from its traditional part-time, advisory role into a full-time position.

The move comes less than two weeks since Dr. Greg Loomis, the county’s health officer, resigned after two years in the role. Loomis contends he was at an impasse with county commissioners and county council members who haven’t bought into his plan to have a full-time physician oversee hands-on addiction services and other programs he’s pushed during his time.

It's a stalemate that, particularly in recent weeks, has turned highly personal, as Loomis – a retired neurosurgeon and IU School of Medicine professor who, by his own account, doesn’t have much of a filter – pulls against what he considers county-imposed reins on what the health department could do to treat people with addictions, address infant mortality rates and cut into recidivism in the corrections system.

Dr. Greg Loomis (Photo: Dave Bangert)

“Who gets the right to tell a neurosurgeon of 40 years and a professor at a medical school, here's the line, you are not allowed to cross it when you see health care disparities on the other side?” Loomis said, taking aim at and naming county commissioners by profession.

“How who has that right? A former sheriff? A dairy farmer? A banker who used to stack shelves at Pay Less?” Loomis asked. “Who has the right to say that? I think you know me well enough to know that I'm not going to sit back and watch this happen.”

Dr. Julianne Stout, president of the county health board, said health board members believe this is an inflection point – “a different one than we’ve ever had before” – when the board can make its case for a new approach and a health officer position that hasn’t been redefined for more than a decade.