Mapp Extends Health Commissioner’s Contract

Governor Kenneth Mapp has extended Department of Health Commissioner Michelle Davis’s contract for one year following a request the governor made to the U.S. Department of Human Services — which has loaned Ms. Davis to the territory via an agreement.

In a brief letter approving Mr. Mapp’s request, the Acting Assistant U.S. Secretary for Health, Don Wright, relayed to the governor that U.S. Department of Human Services Secretary, Thomas E. Price, appreciated the request. Ms. Davis is able to serve as commissioner of D.O.H. in the territory under the Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA), which allows temporary assignment to other government agencies.

Ms. Davis has served the territory as commissioner of health for one year under the agreement with the federal government. In announcing the agreement early last year, Mr. Mapp said he anticipated that Ms. Davis’s tenure would be very beneficial to the Virgin Islands, particularly in the area of efficient and effective use of federal funds. Prior to assuming her post, Ms. Davis assumed a leadership role in combating the Zika virus locally, and her experience in the matter of disease control and prevention is invaluable, the territory’s leader had said.

During her Senate confirmation hearing in the Committee on Rules and Judiciary last year, Ms. Davis revealed her salary to be $150,000 annually — matching that of the governor of the Virgin Islands. She also revealed that the agreement, which was only extended for one additional year, could be extended for six, adding that she would be willing to stay and help turnaround D.O.H. — which has seen between 7-10 commissioners in the last ten years, according to multiple senators — to help guide the facility to its full potential.

Ms. Davis 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.  Before working with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Ms. Davis 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. 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 C.D.C. federal assignee, according to information provided b Government House.

She completed her undergraduate studies in biology at the University of Michigan. She continued her education at the University of South Carolina, Johns Hopkins and the University of North Carolina, where she completed her graduate studies in epidemiology.