Governor Mapp Taps Top U.S. Human Services Official To Serve As Health Commissioner

ST. THOMAS — Capping what was an exceptional night for Governor Kenneth Mapp, as he announced one-by-one strides his administration had made in 2015, and major developments coming this year and onward, the territory’s leader revealed Dr. Michelle S. Davis as his pick to head the Virgin Islands Department of Health, a high-rated U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) official.

The announcement settles vexing questions about the direction of the local DOH, as the important government department had been without a permanent commissioner since Governor Mapp withdrew the nomination of Dr. Phyllis Wallace on her request.

But Dr. Davis won’t be with DOH for too long. According to Governor Mapp, the arrangement is a two-year loan agreement between the HHS and the Government of the Virgin Islands.

“Dr. Davis is quite familiar with our challenges,” Mr. Mapp said. “As you could say, she knows what she’s getting into, as she has worked closely with us since last year on the federal level, in addressing many of the challenges such as staff recruitment, professional development, outbreak response, public health communication, data collection, vital statistics and grant management.”

She was also instrumental in organizing and facilitating the first Center for Disease Control comprehensive sight visit to the territory, as well as a Virgin Islands governor’s first visit to the CDC to learn more about public healthcare transformation. Dr. Davis’ efforts yielded public-private sector commitments to provide long-term public health technical assistance and training, according to the governor.

Michelle S. Davis

The chief executive said he expects many benefits from the two-year partnership, “especially in the area of efficient and effective use of federal funds.”

“The plan is not only to turn our public health services and provide and rollout real mental health services for those in our community, and maternal and child healthcare services, and all of the lack of data that we collect with the demographics of healthcare in the Virgin Islands. But to also be able to train and provide guidance to the next generation of leaders for the Department of Health,” Mr. Mapp added.

According to information found on the HHS website, Dr. Davis currently holds the position of Regional Health Administrator (RHA) with HHS New York Regional office. The RHA serves as the principal federal public health authority for the Secretary of HHS and the Assistant Secretary for Health. The RHA also assures collaborative promotion of the Surgeon General’s initiatives.

Prior to her current position, she served as the Deputy RHA for the Mid-Atlantic region (DC, DE, MD, PA, VA, WVA)  as the health liaison between DHHS and state/local agencies, coordinated regional/national programs, recommended policies and served on the federal emergency preparedness, response and recovery team.

She has worked as a public health professional in a variety of positions at the federal, state and municipal levels.  This included the Deputy Secretary for Health for the Pennsylvania Department of Health. She was responsible for oversight of over 600 staff and a budget of $250 million.

Before working with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania she held positions as Deputy Health Commissioner for Policy and Planning with the City of Philadelphia and Senior Epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She has also held positions with the states of South Carolina, Indiana and New York and at the local level with the City of Detroit and with the District of Columbia as a CDC federal assignee.

Dr. Davis has held several elected positions within professional organizations including; President and Chair of the Board of the Pennsylvania Public Health Association (PPHA), President and Vice-President of the Black Caucus of Health Workers of the American Public Health Association (APHA) and Governing Councilor for the Epidemiology Section of APHA.

Dr. Davis matriculated at the University of Michigan majoring in biology and psychology at the undergraduate level. She continued her education at the University of South Carolina, Johns Hopkins and the University of North Carolina where she majored in epidemiology for her graduate degrees.

Feature Image: Michelle S. Davis

Image Credit: HSS.