The St. Joseph County Board of Health voted last week to recommend retired Dr. Joseph H. Kerbin for a four-year term as the next health officer.
But Kerbin told The Tribune on Saturday that he was “extremely clear” that he only agreed to the role on a temporary basis and did not intend to stay for more than four months — after which he plans to move out of state.
“I’m just trying to help until they can find a permanent director,” said the local doctor.
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Still, county commissioners are poised to vote Tuesday on appointing Kerbin to a four-year term, as outlined in a letter from Board of Health President John Lynn. Then it would go to the county council.
Questions about the process
Board of Directors member Heidi Beidinger cast the lone vote against the appointment, telling The Tribune that she doesn’t have a problem with Kerbin, but with the process.
Beidinger said she and other board of health members came to Wednesday morning’s meeting with the idea that they were hiring an interim health officer.
But after Beidinger questioned it, Linn said Cerbin was not being considered for an interim role.
Just the day before, Kerbin had agreed to be considered for health officer, Lynn said, after board members had talked to a dozen different doctors. Neither Lynn nor the board’s attorney, Marcel Lebin, said anything about Kerbin’s intention to serve no more than four months. 4
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Beidinger, who was unaware of Cerbin’s plan to move out of state at the time, pointedly asked, “Have we considered an interim health officer?”
Lebin replied, “Everything has been considered.” He later said, “According to the statute, we have to offer four years.”
All of this, Bedinger said, was a “strange” twist that caught her off guard because the health department has had two interim health officers during her eight years on the board. Other Indiana health departments have also hired temporary health officers in recent years.
She also questioned the fact that Kerbin plans to be a part-time health officer, which would be less than 30 hours a week.
“The reason our health department is so well positioned is because we have a full-time health officer,” she said.
Board member Ellen Reilander responded that the health officer can delegate duties to other staff.
Lebin acknowledged Beidinger’s question about the part-time role as a “valid” concern and suggested meeting with the board’s personnel committee in April or May to discuss it.
A matter of urgency
The county must name a health officer by the end of March, when current health officer Dr. Robert Einterz will resign. He announced his resignation and the date in December.
“This county will be at a standstill as it relates to health — statutory health care requirements — if a health officer is not appointed on April 1 as well,” Einterz stressed to the board Wednesday. “One could not get a birth certificate, a death certificate. There can be no reduction orders. Nothing can be done.”
Although the health official can resign from the position well before the end of the four-year term, Beidinger said, “This four-year contract is ironclad.”
Speaking from experience, she said the board wouldn’t be able to take any action if Cerbin unexpectedly changed course and decided to stay, adding: “We won’t have any decision.”
Lebin and Lynn did not return The Tribune’s calls for comment Saturday.
Kerbin said he is willing to work about 20 hours a week or more if needed to ensure the health department can function in basic ways — such as signing necessary documents.
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He said he knows about such basic public health things as restaurant inspections and immunizations and swimming. Also, he said, he’s not as familiar with the department’s outreach and other health promotion programs.
He frowned at the “terribly different” political views people take on health, whether they’re Democrats or Republicans.
“I’m not a politician and I don’t do politics,” he said.
Kerbin retired in December after 36 years as a family physician at the South Bend clinic. He also founded Granger Family Medicine. Until now, he worked as a doctor for the Navarri Student Clinic, where students from the Indiana University School of Medicine – South Bend serve people without health insurance on Saturdays at a clinic on Western Avenue.
South Bend Tribune reporter Joseph Dits can be reached at 574-235-6158 or [email protected].