EDGEWOOD — Following the resignation of its public health director amid controversy over birth control policy, the Northern Kentucky Independent District Health Department has appointed an interim director.

        In a Friday afternoon meeting of the executive committee of the Board of Health, Danny Greene, director of administration and accounting, was named interim director until a new director can be found.

        The previous director, George Graham, took a job this month as deputy commissioner for Medicaid services with the state. He told the Enquirer that opposition from health board members to family planning services, such as birth control pills and other contraceptives, played a part in his decision to resign.

        The board appointed Mr. Greene without dissent. He will be in charge of handling money and supervising staff, said Dr. Stephen Hiltz, chairman of the Board of Health.

        “I have all the faith in the world in Danny,” Dr. Hiltz said.

        Executive committee members had previously discussed appointing an interim director at their meeting Jan. 17, but some Board of Health members questioned the move because the appointment was not on the written agenda for the meeting. The appointment was a formal agenda item Friday.

        “Whether those concerns (about last month's meeting) were valid or not is open to debate, but I think this takes care of it,” Dr. Hiltz said.

        The executive committee has the power to appoint the interim director, but if other Board of Health members object to the appointment, they can seek to overturn it. Executive committee members said they did not expect any objections to Mr. Greene's appointment.

        Mr. Greene will serve as interim director only until a new director can be found. Mr. Greene, who started with the Health Department in 1982, said he has no desire to stay in the position any longer than necessary, and said he hopes a new director will be hired by October.

        Being the director is “not something I'm going out and making a pitch to do; it's something I'm doing for the good of the organization,” he said.

        Mr. Graham said Friday he is confident in Mr. Greene's abilities.

        “He has the experience, and definitely the knowledge of the district,” he said. “I think he would be a very fine choice for the interim.”

        Dr. Hiltz also read a letter to board members from Janet Van Nevel, who recently resigned as human resources administrator for the Health Department. Ms. Van Nevel's letter said the possibility of conflict between board policy and professional ethics led in part to her resignation. The letter did not specify if the conflict was over birth control.

        The Health Department provides services to more than 100,000 people directly and more than 320,000 indirectly, according to its Web site.

City's oldest black church honors 3 who nurtured it
Ohio leading tobacco fight
Gas station pumps Ludlow's spirits
Spinney Field proposal sacked
DARE dares to alter formula
SAMPLES: Rude and crude
Friend testifies about breakup
Man gets at least 63 years in killings
Soldier's patience rewarded: Medal came after 33 years
Criminal checks now mandatory
School drug charges filed, raised
Sister Cookie to lead the way
HOWARD: Neighborhoods
MCNUTT: Arts festival
Bill would add violent felons to DNA database
Blandford still says conviction was unfair
Check-cashing bill reconsidered
Different fates may await bills
Experts: Reporting bullies the only way to end abuse
Fairfield school levy looms
Former GM worker says he lied
Group seeks tribe label
Health agency names interim chief
Hospitals win OK to open beds for flu
House passes tuition help for foster kids
Maineville police chief sues to keep force intact
Man dies in Hamilton shooting
Meeting sought over OxyContin
Men scarce on campus; recruitment considered
New boss at health department
Shirey interviews for job in Texas
State takes action to redirect agriculture
Vendors want Wallace's Bookstores to pay
Kentucky News Briefs
Tristate A.M. Report