New Health Board Chair Michael Williams during the May regular meeting recognized 2019-20 Board Chair Stephen Fawcett for leading the board during the past year as well as outgoing Board Member Shannon Oury.
“You have provided a great model within the past year,” Williams told Fawcett during the May 18 Board Meeting, where all board members appeared via Zoom to practice social distancing due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“You have helped me personally and this organization collectively stay true to the public health spirit, and we are stronger because of your leadership,” Director Dan Partridge said.
Fawcett, the Kansas Health Foundation Emeritus Distinguished Professor at the University of Kansas and senior adviser for the KU Center for Community Health and Development, is in his second term as a board member after he was reappointed by the Lawrence City Commission in 2019.
Both Fawcett and Oury received plaques as recognition that they displayed during the virtual meeting.
Oury, the executive director of the Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority, recently completed her second term on the board after serving the past six years, and she was instrumental in helping the community address affordable housing as key issue now under the Community Health Plan, Partridge said.
“It was my honor to serve on this board. The partnership Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health and the Housing Authority has been a game-changer for the community,” Oury said. “When I took the Housing Authority position 10 years ago, affordable housing wasn’t on the radar, and now it is something as a community that we are really working on. I fully intend and expect to continue that partnership with Public Health.”
“Shannon, your voice for the poor and the vulnerable has been another critical aspect of your important contribution. Thank you,” Fawcett said.
Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health plans to recognize outgoing Board Member Vern Norwood at a future date.
Newly appointed Board Members Erica Hill and Hugh Carter began their terms in April.