New Lake County health executive director named

Lake County has a new executive director to lead its health department and community health centers.

The Lake County Community Health Center Governing Council appointed Irene Pierce on Tuesday after a positive recommendation from the county board of health last week.

Pierce of Wadsworth has served as the health department's director of primary care services since 1995. She was assistant director of the medical services division from 1990 to 1995.

She will start her new job June 28, leading a department with a $64 million budget and 1,000 staff members.

Pierce replaces Dale Galassie, the executive director since 1992. When Galassie assumed his duties in 1992, the department operated with a $19 million budget and about 600 employees.

Galassie, a driving force behind its growth in community health services, is retiring after 27 years.

Pierce was chosen after a national search and from among several internal applicants because she had the most public health experience, Galassie said.

"She has had ample experience lobbying both in Springfield and Washington, D.C., on statewide and national public health agendas," he said. "Her lobbying experience, knowledge of the community and her leadership/management skills, really prepare her well for this position and to take it to the next level."

Under Pierce's leadership, the number of patients served by primary care services more than doubled.

Primary care services includes medical, dental, Women, Infants and Children nutrition, prenatal care and case management for more than 45,000 patients at five community health centers.

She helped the department gain national recognition through reviews, accreditation and certification.

Pierce helped establish a test program providing increased access to specialty care for low-income patients. She built a relationship with a not-for-profit group that has donated more than $2 million to the health department's Highland Park health center.

In 2007, Pierce served as chairman of the Illinois Primary Health Care Association and was on the board of the National Association of Community Health Centers.

Pierce said the county's changing demographics present new challenges.

"We have some real challenges of meeting health goals for cancer prevention, early treatment and prevention of diabetes and trying to encourage people to adopt healthy lifestyles," she said.

Pierce previously worked with Evanston Hospital Corp., a 600-bed, two-hospital. primary care system affiliated with the McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University. From 1977 to 1989, she served as associate chairman responsible for operation planning, developing and directing services for Evanston's corporate nursing department.

Pierce earned a master of science in nursing degree, with a specialty in nursing administration, and a clinical concentration in chemical dependency from Loyola University of Chicago.