Two Knox County Health Department team members have been promoted to lead divisions at the organization. Kevin Clark, formerly KCHD’s food program manager, has been promoted to director of environmental health. And Erin Read, formerly a health planner for KCHD, has been promoted to division director for substance misuse response.
“Kevin and Erin have demonstrated exemplary service to our community, especially during the many challenges of the past year. And I have no doubt they will serve our community well in their new positions,” said KCHD Senior Director Dr. Martha Buchanan.
Clark has served as the food program manager of KCHD’s Environmental Health division for the past six years. He was responsible for a variety of programs, including inspecting and permitting food service businesses, grocery stores, public swimming pools and hotels.
Prior to his role with KCHD, he worked in the food service industry for over 20 years. In his new role as environmental health director, Clark will continue to oversee the previously mentioned programs, while also directing the air quality management, ground water and vector control teams. Clark will also be responsible for maintaining state and federal regulatory contracts. Allison Rosenberg will take over as the environmental health program manager, filling the position Clark vacated.
Read has served at KCHD for the past 11 years as a health educator and most recently as a health planner, coordinating the Community Health Council and acting as the architect for KCHD’s 2019 Community Health Assessment.
In her new role, Read will oversee the All4Knox program, a joint initiative of the county and city. She will facilitate the execution of the All4Knox communitywide strategic plan to address the substance misuse epidemic, which includes coordinating the work of six multi-agency implementation teams.
Additionally, Read will direct KCHD’s overdose fatality review team and internal harm reduction program, the latter of which offers a variety of linkage to care services for persons at-risk from the consequences of substance misuse and communicable disease.
Previously, Ronnie Nease held the environmental health director position until he retired last month after more than 30 years of service.
Kaylee Coffman is a communications specialist at Knox County Health Department