Sarah Goodwill Humphrey has been named Health Commissioner at Richland Public Health by the Board of Health. Humphrey, Health Commissioner at the Ashland County Health Department since 2016, succeeds Martin Tremmel who announced his retirement in November after serving Richland Public Health since 2013.
“Ms. Humphrey brings a deep personal commitment to public health and a life-long passion for prevention and community well-being,” said Richland Public Health Board Member Ary van Harlingen, who chaired the search committee. “The Board looks forward to working with Sarah and is confident that her leadership, guidance, vision, and energy will assure a seamless transition as we continue our mission to improve the health our Richland County communities.”
“I speak for the entire Board in extending our deep appreciation and thanks to Martin Tremmel,” van Harlingen added. “Under his leadership, Richland Public Health achieved status as an Accredited Health Department by the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB), reorganized and financially stabilized the Health Department, rebranded the Health Department as Richland Public Health, oversaw improvements in the safety and security of the building, and began a renovation project to make our building more assessible to the public.”
During Humphrey’s time at Ashland County Health Department, she implemented foundational plans such as Quality Improvement (QI), Community Health Improvement, Strategic Planning, and Performance Management (PM) while overseeing a budget of $1.1 million.
While Health Commissioner, Humphrey facilitated the collaboration of the Ashland City Council and Ashland County General Health District to reduce cost and service redundancy to create one Health Department in Ashland. She then oversaw technological advancements to more efficiently and effectively provide services to the public.
Humphrey graduated from The Ohio State University in March 1999 with a BS in Animal Science from the College of Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Sciences. She began her career in public health as an Environmental Health Specialist and Registered Sanitarian for Holmes County General Health District from 2001 to 2003 and again from 2009 to 2012. She became a Tier 2 Epidemiologist in Holmes County from 2012 to 2016 while completing her Masters of Public Health (MPH) from the University of South Florida in December of 2015.
Among her other responsibilities at Holmes County, she served as Policy Administrator and Accreditation Coordinator from October 2010 until April 2016. She is also a Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) Site Visitor. She has previous experience working in collaboration with Richland Public Health as a member of the Unified Command Response during the 2014 North Central Ohio Measles Outbreak.
In addition to her public health experience, Humphrey served as Fiscal Officer for the Western Holmes County Fire District from 2009 through 2018, managing human resources, financial affairs, and the budget for fire and EMS. She has served as a Trainer, Evaluator, Incident Commander, and Public Information Officer in a variety of Public Health Emergency Response situations both in drills and real-life situations.
The next step for the Board of Health is to plan the transition period between Humphrey and current Health Commissioner Martin Tremmel with the intent of Humphrey joining Richland Public Health in February.