The city’s public health commissioner, Dr. Olusimbo Ige, is exiting the Chicago Department of Public Health, the mayor’s office confirmed late Friday, after allegations of a hostile work environment and significant turnover within the department.
Sources confirmed Friday that Johnson asked for Ige’s resignation, effective immediately.
Ige was hired in the fall of 2023 after Johnson fired Dr. Allison Arwady, who headed the department throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
The managing director of the nonprofit Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and former commissioner of New York City’s public health department, Johnson described her as a “tremendous addition” to the city who understood “the balance between hard data and community interaction.”
Ige came under fire after terminating more than two dozen CDPH employees last fall, breaking a mayoral pledge to avert layoffs of public employees. The Tribune recently reported Ige also voluntarily returned tens of millions of dollars in federal COVID-19 grants, cutting off funding for disease surveillance and racial equity programming.
Ige defended the personnel cuts by saying she wanted to “coordinate” the department’s transition off multiple COVID grants and restructure to prioritize “core functions.”
Ige’s departure came to light late on the Friday afternoon of Memorial Day weekend, when many Chicagoans were already enjoying the long weekend and mayors often release news they don’t want to receive lots of attention.
In a statement, the mayor’s office confirmed Johnson “accepted Dr. Ige’s letter of resignation” and thanked her “for her expertise and years of service.”
“Mayor Johnson will work expeditiously to identify a permanent replacement while First Deputy Commissioner Fikirte Wagaw will serve as Acting Commissioner,” the statement said.
