New health director steps into role

NEW MILFORD— After a weekslong transition period, Lisa Morrissey has taken over as the town’s newest health director, filling a post that was occupied by her predecesor, Michael Crespan, since 1988.

“We’re very excited to have her on board as our health director,” said New Milford Mayor Pete Bass. “She’s going to be filling big shoes.”

This will be the third health director position Morrissey has occupied since the onset of the pandemic last March. Morrissey comes to New Milford from Bridgeport, where she worked in the same position for just eight months before accepting the new job. Prior to that, she worked as Danbury’s director of Health and Human Services for more than three years.

Morrissey received her master’s degree in public health and epidemiology from New York Medical College.

In a prior interview with Hearst Connecticut Media, Morrissey stated that her decision to take the job in New Milford was spurred by her contraction of COVID last December. Her illness was a “wake-up call,” she said at the time, and the town’s location gave her more flexibility to be close to her family in Danbury.

When Crespan announced his retirement in December, the town had just two months to find a replacement. Arriving in a new role during a pandemic, and specifically during a complicated vaccine rollout process, is no easy thing. For the past several weeks, Bass said theyhave been working to get Morrissey up to speed with the town’s COVID vaccine procedure, and so far, it has been a very smooth transition.

“She was already feet on the ground, running, as soon as she got here.”