The Lafayette County Board of Health approved the resignation of Sue Matye,  Lafayette County Health Department Director/Health Officer/Home Care Supervisor, at their meeting on Monday, Aug. 31. Matye’s last day in the position will be Sept. 15.
    The board also recommended Maura Trimble as an interim director/health officer, pending approval from the state health department. The recommendation will also be taken to Lafayette County’s Human Resource Committee on Sept. 10 as well as the next full county board meeting, ton Tuesday, Sept. 15.
    Trimble currently serves as a public health nurse at the health department.
    “I have every reason to believe she will do a phenomenal job,” said Matye. “The staff respects her and she brings a wealth of knowledge to the position. It makes my transition easier knowing she has stepped up to fill that role.”
    Matye will be moving on to become the director/health officer at the Iowa County Health Department.
    “The job is 100% public health, which is my passion and I am very excited to be able to spend more time on those programs. Hopefully it will be a smooth transition,” said Matye. 
    Matye wanted to stress that she is not leaving due to the recent focus on the Lafayette County Home Care Program and the struggles the program has been facing.
    “I honestly feel the home care program is in good shape to succeed as long as we maintain the staff we currently have,” she explained. “I have said it over and over again that we hear only praise from the people who use our home care program.”
    Matye wanted to thank the Board of Health, Jack Sauer and other board members for believing in the home care program and working hard to keep it in place for the citizens of Lafayette County.
    “And I couldn’t leave without publicly saying thank you to my crazy and terrific staff at the health department,” said Matye. “It truly has been a great place to work.”
    Matye also stated that with the recent focus on the home care program lately, the health department hasn’t had a chance to showcase their public health programs as much.
    “It’s a very busy time of year for our public health staff as we provide school nursing services to six of our seven school districts in Lafayette County,” said Matye. “This relationship allows us to reach a vulnerable population in all corners of our county.  It also makes it easier to set up mass clinics to practice our emergency preparedness skills.  We will once again be offering school based immunization clinics to children in Lafayette County thanks to the work we are able to do as a level II health department and the grants that are made available to us with this designation.” 
    Matye encourages anyone who hasn’t taken the Community Needs Health assessment survey through the health department to do so before the end of September.
    The survey provides opportunities to comment, and the feedback will help guide programs and funding to improve health in the areas indentified by the citizens of Lafayette County. The survey can be found at the health department’s website at www.lafayettecountyhealthdepartment.org or visit the health department on Facebook.
    Matye worked at the Lafayette County Health Department for 15 years, serving in the director position since 2013.