New chief: Public health ‘a team sport’
Health commissioner eager to improve outcomes and serve.
Butler County’s new health commissioner called public health “a team sport,” where professionals in the field are often “willing to give a helping hand,” according to an article from his alma mater.
“Don’t be afraid to ask for advice or help from other agencies, businesses, and, most importantly, the people you serve,” said Erik Balster in the spring 2020 article from the Boonshoft School of Medicine at Wright State University.
The Butler County Board of Health recently voted to appoint Balster as health commissioner beginning Nov. 29. He succeeds Jennifer Bailer, who retired at the end of August. Dr. Michelle Burch, a pediatrician and medical director for the health district, has been serving as interim commissioner.
“We are enthusiastic about starting this next chapter with Erik leading the health district out of the pandemic,” said Leon Simpson, president of the Butler County Board of Health. “Public health officials throughout the state speak high praise for Erik and we look forward to him bringing his experience to Butler County.”
Balster began his career as an epidemiological investigator at the Ohio Department of Health. He then served as a registered sanitarian and emergency response coordinator at the Warren County Health Department. He’s been the Preble County health commissioner since 2013, and was elected president of the Association of Ohio Health Commissioners in 2020.
Balster is a 2007 Ohio State University graduate with a bachelor’s degree in zoology and a 2010 Wright State University graduate with a master’s in public health.
“I am really excited to work with the staff,” he said. “As we come out of the COVID-19 pandemic, I’m eager to work on modernizing public health with a focus on how technology can better serve the community and improve health outcomes.”
Butler County ranks seventh among Ohio counties with the most COVID-19 cases since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, according to the Ohio Department of Health. It ranks eighth in both cumulative hospitalizations and total deaths related to the pandemic.
According to the county health department’s most recent epidemiology report, Butler County peaked in mid-September in the fourth wave of rising COVID-19 cases, but the report indicates that even though the numbers are
declining, “we continue to be vigilant” and the county is “still a community of high transmission and high positivity.”
As of Thursday, there have been more than 52,000 cumulative cases, and 724 deaths related to COVID-19. There are more than 2,700 current COVID-19 cases in Butler County, according to the health department.
Just under 50% of Butler
County residents, or just under 191,000, have been fully vaccinated.