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<br />Orange County Health Department <br />names interim health director <br />Sarah Cheek | Published March 6, 2017 <br /> <br />Dorothy Cilenti is the interim health director of the Orange County Health Department. <br />Following the departure of Colleen Bridger, Dorothy Cilenti has been appointed as the new interim <br />health director for the Orange County Health Department until a permanent replacement is hired. <br />The position for health director closed for potential applicants on Jan. 31, and the health <br />department will begin conducting interviews for a new director in the middle of March, said Stacy <br />Shelp, spokesperson for the Orange County Health Department. <br />Cilenti said she’s expecting the department to have a new health director by the end of June, at the <br />latest. <br />Cilenti is a professor at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. She has served as a health <br />director for Chatham and Alamance counties. <br />She has also previously served as the interim health director for Orange County in 2011. <br />Bridger, the previous director of the health department, recently left to take a job as health director <br />for the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District in Texas. <br />Liska Lackey, chairperson for the Board of Health for Orange County, said the board approved <br />Cilenti, who was recommended by Bridger. <br />“She brings a wealth of experience and has served as interim health director previously, so we are in <br />good hands,” Lackey said. <br />Cilenti said she is looking forward to having the opportunity to practice local public health. <br />“I really get energized by being part of community health improvement initiatives,” Cilenti said. <br />Shelp said Cilenti will not be making any changes to the current health department, but overseeing <br />things and managing them as usual. <br />“The bonus of her working for UNC within Orange County is her understanding our partnerships <br />and public health law,” Shelp said. <br />Lackey said they needed an interim director who could continue to promote the hard work of the <br />staff and all the programs they had in place.