Health chief was hired, then quit without written records
Dr. Joan Duwve accepted, and then rejected, the job as director of the Ohio Department of Health without exchanging written correspondence with the office of Gov. Mike Dewine or the department.
A response by Dewine’s office on Tuesday to a public-records request from The Dispatch showed no emails nor other correspondence between Duwve, Dewine’s office and the department she was to lead amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Ohio native, South Carolina’s public health director since April, informed Dewine that she was withdrawing as Ohio’s health director within hours of the governor having announced her appointment last Thursday.
Duwve subsequently said that she quit before officially starting because she was concerned about harassment of Dr. Amy Acton, who quit as Ohio health director amid sometimes-armed protests that targeted her home in Bexley out of objection to her public-health orders. “My family is off-limits,” Duwve said.
The records provided by the governor’s office show that Duwve neither accepted nor withdrew from the Ohio job in writing.
Dan Tierney, Dewine’s press secretary, said the state’s dealings with Duwve involved telephone conversations, although there might have been a online video meeting with her prior to her selection.
The records about Duwve provided to The Dispatch largely consist of copies of Dewine’s remarks, a press release about her appointment, and a copy of her resume.
Asked if Duwve ever sought, or the state ever provided her with, records such as the health department budget, an organizational chart or existing public-health orders, Tierney said that the governor’s office had provided records to The Dispatch in compliance with its request for all correspondence.
Dewine said last Thursday that he and members of his administration had conversations with Duwve about the position of Ohio health director and informed her of the protesters who targeted Acton.
“Sometimes you don’t fully grasp things — this happens to me — until you kind of get into something and you see it more,” Dewine said. “But I’m only speculating.”
Cincinnati Enquirer Reporter Jackie Borchardt contributed to this story. rludlow@dispatch.com @Randyludlow