(The Center Square) – The state’s top public health official announced Tuesday that she plans to leave her role amid a lull in COVID-19 cases after helping to set the state’s pandemic policies for more than two years.
Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike announced she would leave her $178,200-a-year post on March 14. Amaal Tokars, the agency’s assistant director, will serve as interim director during a nationwide search to find a longer-term replacement.
“It has been a great honor serving the people of Illinois as the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health,” Dr. Ngozi Ezike said Tuesday in Chicago. “Being the state’s top doc during a global pandemic has been challenging to say the least, but it’s been an amazing journey to work with so many great public health professionals and leaders from all sectors.”
Ezike said she has no immediate plans on what she will do next but said she wants to take some time to be with her family. She said during the pandemic that she was often away from her family. She said the lull in COVID-19 cases statewide made it a good time to leave her position.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker praised Ezike for her service.
“Dr. Ngozi Ezike has led the Illinois Department of Public Health for over three years, her tenure defined not only by her ability to provide the latest expertise and data, but also her empathy and compassion – becoming a beacon of stability for millions during a time of tremendous uncertainty,” Pritzker said. “No number of sleepless nights and endless days could wear down her commitment to think first and foremost of Illinois’ most vulnerable. Her departure is a change I am loathe to accept, but I have utmost faith that Dr. Ezike’s next journey will also bring more good to the world – as has been the hallmark of every step of her career. She will go down in the Illinois history books as a woman who saved lives and changed our state for the better.”
Pritzker, working with Ezike, used executive orders to put in place some of the most stringent restrictions in the nation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both have said their decisions were based on science and not politics.
Ezike became a household name, widely recognized after more than 160 news conferences during the pandemic. For several months, she appeared alongside Pritzker daily for news conferences regarding the virus.
While critics of the state’s pandemic response have mostly aimed at Pritzker, Ezike also caught some of the pushback. In February 2021, a group asked a state medical board to revoke Ezike’s medical license over the state’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Justin Mahwikizi, executive director of The American Institute of Action, requested the Medical Disciplinary Board investigate Ezike’s medical license in a letter to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation’s Division of Professional Regulation Complaint Intake Unit.
“The doctor engaged in dishonorable, unethical or unprofessional conduct of a character likely to deceive, defraud or harm the public,” he wrote in a seven-page letter.
Ezike received praise from others for her work during the pandemic.
A.J. Wilhelmi, president and CEO of the Illinois Health and Hospital Association, lauded Ezike for her commitment to public health.
“I personally witnessed Dr. Ezike’s deep commitment to protecting the residents of Illinois from this deadly virus and I know she put everything she had into her role,” he said. “Dr. Ezike, on behalf of the entire Illinois hospital community, thank you for your outstanding leadership under the most challenging circumstances.”
