Lamont taps Yale infectious disease physician to be public health commissioner

Gov. Ned Lamont has tapped Dr. Manisha Juthani, an infectious diseases physician at the Yale School of Medicine, to lead the state Department of Public Health.

Juthani will assume the role Sept 20, taking over for Dr. Deidre Gifford, whose led the department on an interim basis through much of the coronavirus pandemic following Lamont’s firing of Commissioner Renee Coleman-Mitchell last May.

Gifford will continue to serve as commissioner of the Department of Social Services and will take on a new role as senior advisor to the governor for health and human services. She is known as one of Lamont’s most trusted advisors and was a frequent face at his virtual COVID briefings.

Juthani specializes in the diagnosis, management, and prevention of infections among older adults, including infection control in nursing homes, where large numbers of residents died in Connecticut and across the country. She’s been a full-time faculty member at Yale's medical school since 2006 and became the director of the infectious disease fellowship program in 2012.

Her nomination was announced by the governor at an afternoon press conference at the state Capitol.

Juthani was among a group of doctors who wrote to Lamont last fall urging him to shut down indoor dining, close gyms and limit social gatherings as the state faced a second wave of the coronavirus. She also appeared at one of the governor’s COVID briefings last year, sharing stories of some her patients who were hospitalized due to the coronavirus.

The state still faces “a lot of tough decisions,” with infections and hospitalizations on the rise again, Lamont said, adding there’s “nobody better to have at the table than” Juthani, Gifford and Josh Geballe, the state’s chief operating officer.

Asked whether he would consult with Juthani before her Sept. 20 start date, the governor, who is expected to release safety guidance to schools in the coming weeks, said “she’s still on my speed dial.”

In addition to being involved in the state’s response to the pandemic, now in its 16 month, Juthani said she looks forward to working on increasing access to health care and addressing disparities in care.

“We don’t know what public health challenges lie ahead for us but please know that as a doctor and public health advocate, I will be there to fight for health care as a human right and will be ready to take on any public health challenge that faces us,” Juthani said.

If confirmed, Juthani, born in Manhattan, the daughter of two Indian doctors who immigrated to the U.S. in 1970, will be the first Indian American commissioner in Connecticut.

“It gives me great pride to showcase the multicultural state that we are and to showcase the path that any immigrant can take coming to this state to achieve the American dream,” she said

Juthani was selected after a nationwide search that included more than 100 candidates. Dozens were interviewed and the Lamont administration narrowed the group down to five finalists. Juthani will reportedly make $210,000 annually.