In a 15-minute special session on Thursday Nov. 4, the Washington County Board of Health formally named Emily Huston as its new Public Health Department Administrator. Action was taken after chairman Cathy Buffing told the board that Huston had accepted the offer with a starting date of November 29 and a salary base of $70,000. There will be three step increases, contingent upon competency findings, to reach $80,000 by the start of fiscal year 2022-23 on July 1. The final level is what the previous administrator received.

The vote was 3-1 with Jack Seward Jr. opposed, a position he had noted at the October 26 special board meeting when the board selected Huston.  However, he pledged his support to the department and to aid in any way he can for it to achieve its goals.

Huston received her Master of Public Health degree from the University of Iowa in May and previously earned her bachelor’s in public health from the same university. Huston is a native of Panora who has lived in Iowa City since starting college. She said she became interested in public health as a teenager. Her studies included two internships with the Linn County Public Health Department in Cedar Rapids.

There will be public open house for the new administrator on Wednesday, December 1, from 1 to 3 p.m.  in the conference room of the Federal Bank Building where the health department has its offices.