Former Olmsted County Public Health director says he was pushed out of job

Former Olmsted County Public Health Director Graham Briggs says it was not his decision to step down from his position leading the department.

In an interview this week, Briggs said he was informed as far back as October of the county’s plan to search for a new director.

Briggs said his options were to take a demotion, or resign.

“The county decided it wanted to go in a different direction with the director position, and of the options I was given, resigning from my role was clearly the best option — for me and for the county,” said Briggs.

Briggs, who joined the department as director in 2018, said he was not given a clear reason for being pushed out of the position.

His departure from the county was announced on Nov. 17.

“From what I gathered, there was no discussion beforehand; there was no history of any issues or anything like that,” he said in first full interview since leaving the county. “What I was told is that county administration felt that they needed to go in a different direction, and that me serving as the director wasn’t in the best interest of the county or the department.”

Olmsted County officials declined to answer direct questions about what led to Briggs’ abrupt departure, citing privacy concerns.

Since announcing Briggs' resignation, County Administrator Heidi Welsch has only offered statements of praise for the former county health director, describing him as a “trusted leader” whose “expertise and leadership were a fixture for our residents” through the pandemic.

That sentiment was echoed Thursday by County Commissioner Sheila Kiscaden, who, along with the rest of the county board, was notified of Briggs’ departure in a closed meeting prior to the news being made public.

Kiscaden said her understanding of the situation is that Briggs made the decision to resign from the Public Health department.

She described Briggs as a person with “many talents.”

“When someone in a visible community leadership position decides to leave, there is always speculation about what led to that decision, especially when the person was well-regarded,” said Kiscaden.

But, she added, “I can assure you that … the decision to leave Olmsted County was a decision that Graham made.”

Briggs did not dispute whether he submitted his resignation following conversations with county administration. However, he reiterated that, given the choice, he would have liked to stay on as director.

Moving forward, Briggs said he has concerns that some in the county may be looking to move on from parts of its pandemic response prematurely.

Over the past seven days, the county has recorded 748 new cases of Covid-19, with 89 new hospital admissions. The percentage of ICU beds being used by Covid patients is at its highest level since the start of the pandemic.

“I think a lot of people — some in the department, some in the county, and some in the community — want to be done with the pandemic. And this is understandable. We are all exhausted,” said Briggs. “Unfortunately, we don’t get to decide when the pandemic is over. We will know the pandemic is over when the hospitalizations and the deaths stop.”

Still, Briggs — who has been the face of the county’s Covid response since the first case was identified locally in March 2020 — said he remains confident that Public Health has the personnel to continue the work that has been started, including the ongoing vaccine roll-out.

He said the way department staff and the community have worked together has led to hundreds, if not thousands, of lives being saved.

“I would have liked to have seen this through to the end,” said Briggs. “But my hope, at this point, is that as a new director comes in, they can pick up where I left off and use that great pool of talent in the health department to continue this work and bring our community out of the pandemic, both health-wise and economically.”

Deputy County Administrator Travis Gransee, who oversees the county’s health, housing, and human services division, said the county is taking the process of replacing Briggs slowly, adding, “we need to let the dust settle.”

In the meantime, associate public health directors Denise Daniels and Michael Melius will share leadership duties for the department.

“Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the Olmsted County Public Health Services team has had leaders and staff members dedicating time around the clock to keeping our community healthy and safe,” the county said in a statement released Friday morning. “The leadership change in OCPHS has in no way impacted our response activities related to the pandemic. In fact, our Covid response is as strong now as it has ever been.”

Sean Baker is a Rochester journalist and the founder of Med City Beat.