New leadership ahead for Chicago health department

The head of the Chicago Department of Public Health is leaving for a job with a hospital network and the department's chief medical officer has been tapped to fill the position.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Thursday that Dr. Bechara Choucair (Beh-SHAR'-uh shoo'-KAYR) will leave his $177,000 post at the end of December.

Emanuel has appointed Dr. Julie Morita to succeed Choucair, pending City Council approval. Morita has worked for the city for 15 years. She was born and raised in Chicago and is a pediatrician.

Choucair served five years as commissioner of the health department. He's taken a job as a senior vice president with the Michigan-based Catholic hospital network Trinity Health. Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood and Mercy Hospital in Chicago are part of the Trinity system.