At its meeting Monday morning, the Elkhart County Board of Commissioners appointed Goshen Fire Chief Danny Sink to fill an open spot on the County Board of Health.
Sink, a paramedic, will serve the remainder of Dr. Donald Findlay’s term. Findlay announced earlier this month that he would step down at the end of the year, along with board members Todd Meier and Dr. Ebenezer Kio.
Elkhart County Health Officer Dr. Bethany Wait is also stepping down at the end of the year, and Board of Health Chairman Dr. Randy Cammenga quit the board back in September.
The string of resignations came after the Elkhart County Council vetoed an application for a grant that would have allowed the health department to hire community health workers.
The commissioners approved Sink’s appointment 2 to 1, with Commissioner Brad Rogers voting “nay.” Rogers said he reached out to Sink Friday but had not heard back from him before Monday’s meeting.
“I have said in the past that I will not vote for any health board member – even if I know them – until I at least interview them,” Rogers said.
Commissioner Suzie Weirick said there had been a miscommunication – she said Sink reached out to her and had been waiting for Rogers’ call.
“There was a miscommunication there, it wasn’t intentional or with malice,” Weirick said.
Sink has been with the Goshen Fire Department since 1981 and has served as Fire Chief since 2005. He is the chairman of the Indiana Fire Alliance, past president of the Indiana Fire Chiefs Association and a board member of the Great Lakes Division of the International Association of Fire Chiefs. He has also served as a flight paramedic for Parkview Samaritan.
Contact Gemma at gdicarlo@wvpe.org or follow her on Twitter at @gemma_dicarlo.
If you appreciate this kind of journalism on your local NPR station, please support it by donatinghere.
