Northwest Indiana Discussion

EDITORIAL: Health officer needs to be there

| Sunday, June 07, 2009 |

Where was Lake County Health Department health officer Dr. Susan Best when federal agents carted off boxes of materials from the department?

For that matter, how often is she physically present at the office she is supposed to be overseeing?

Everyone knows now about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency investigation of the county health department following allegations that employees in the county lab altered drinking water tests.

Two employees have been fired since the allegations about the health department lab surfaced.

The U.S. attorney's office subpoenaed six years' worth of records from the lab, now shut down, and individuals have been summoned to appear before a federal grand jury that began its work Wednesday in Hammond.

Among the records sought are personnel files, correspondence, staff members' personal background checks, job applications, resumes, training records, performance evaluations and more.

Department Administrator Nick Doffin makes $65,322 a year for overseeing day-to-day operations at the agency. Best, who also has a private internal medicine practice, is paid $66,125 a year to serve as the county's health officer.

But Best doesn't seem to keep regular office hours at the county agency. A reporter from The Times showed up at the agency repeatedly and asked for Best, and each time she wasn't there. Employees weren't reluctant to offer help in trying to contact her, but the point is that she wasn't there.

Best has served as the Lake County Health Department's "Where's Waldo?" character in the familiar children's books -- except that Waldo was always in the picture somewhere.

If the county health officer who is supposed to oversee the department isn't on site, what's the point of paying her a big salary? What can she accomplish without showing up regularly?

This is something the Lake County Commissioners and County Council should be asking.

The Indiana State Department of Health gave the Lake County lab poor marks in February, noting that lab analysts didn't have proper training or experience.

It seems that better supervision is needed, and the health officer isn't paying close enough attention.