Press Release

Miller Wins Confirmation as New Director of Health and Human Services

Pontiac, MI, July 17, 2008 The Oakland County Board of Commissioners today gave final approval to Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Pattersons appointment of George J. Miller, Jr., as the new director of the Oakland County Department of Health and Human Services. 

Miller, a Royal Oak resident, succeeds Dr. Thomas J. Gordon who is retiring after serving as director of the department since 1994. 

Im truly honored to have been appointed to this position, said Miller.  I look forward to the challenges and opportunities this position will offer as well as being a part of Brooks Pattersons innovative team.

Miller, who has served as health officer and manager of the Health Division for the past seven years, will be responsible for two divisions, Health and Childrens Village, which have a combined total of 650 employees.  He will also oversee a budget of $75 million a year.

Miller lists as his major accomplishments as head of the Health Division: increasing Women, Infant and Childrens (WIC) referrals by 35% over the past five years; developing the Count Your Steps pedometer walking program created by the County Executive; establishing the eHealth Data System in Environmental Health that allows sanitarians immediate access to data in the field; creating a School Pandemic Planning Guide for schools and school districts which received Best Practice recognition from the University of Minnesotas Public Health Emergency Planning Department and the Centers for Disease  Control and development of a mass flu vaccination weekend, the first of its kind in Michigan, which gave the Oakland County Health Division the distinction of becoming the first Health Department in the state to administer over 40,000 doses of vaccine annually.

Succeeding Miller as health officer and Health Division manager is Kathy Forzley, R.S., M.P.A., who has served as administrator of Environmental Health Services since 2003.  Prior to that, she was supervisor of Environmental Health Services.

During his tenure as Health and Human Services director, Gordon facilitated construction of the new Medical Examiners building; established the Family Service Counseling Program; created the Youth Specialist Training Academy at Childrens Village; successfully privatized the Golden Oaks Medical Care Facility; spearheaded Small Pox Preparedness Training and instituted a Food Managers Certification Program for Oakland County restaurants.

I would like to thank Dr. Gordon for his more than 35 years of dedicated service to Oakland County, the last 15 of which have been spent as director of Health and Human Services and I wish him well as he moves on to the next chapter in his life, said Patterson. At the same time I congratulate George Miller and Kathy Forzley on their new assignments.   They are highly qualified and talented people who will continue to do an outstanding job for the citizens of Oakland County.

For media inquiries only, please contact Bob Dustman, Media and Communications Officer, at (248) 858-1048.
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