Dr. Michelle Migliore cleared another hurdle Tuesday night on her way to becoming St. Joseph County’s next health officer.
The council voted 5-4 to hire Migliore to succeed the departing Dr. Diana Purushotham as county health officer. Migliore is a Democrat who was first appointed to the county board of health by Republican Mishawaka Mayor Dave Wood.
Republican council member Joe Thomas crossed party lines and voted with the council’s four Democrats to hire Migliore. County commissioners also must approve her. They next meet on Tuesday.
Purushotham in March announced she was moving to Baltimore to follow her husband’s new job. Under the arrangement that the health department is recommending, Migliore would only work part-time as health officer handling the day-to-day operations of the department, so that she can continue her family medicine practice.
Purushotham would work remotely from Baltimore as a consultant to the department, focusing more on implementation and strategy. She has led the department’s strategic planning and implementation of the new Health First Indiana public health programs.
Their combined pay won’t exceed the $250,000 annual salary that’s now budgeted for the health officer position, the South Bend Tribune has reported.
