Kirsten Johnson, M.P.H.
Fellowship Year(s): 2018-2019
Profession: Public Health (inc. epidemiologist)
Specialty: Public Health
Fellowship Details:
Health Officer/Director
Washington Ozaukee County Public Health Department
Rep Kind (D-WI)
Wisconsin
At time of Fellowship
Kirsten Johnson is the health officer of the newly merged Washington Ozaukee Public Health Department. In the merge efforts, Johnson worked to reorganize, align services, and modernize the joint department. She helped write the intergovernmental agreement and negotiated statutory changes to allow for a merged payment structure. She formed a new, independent board of health; broadened the department’s population health focus; and positioned the new department to act as the chief health strategist in both counties, while improving the efficiency and effectiveness of department programs.
Prior to merging the Washington and Ozaukee Public Health Departments, Johnson was the health officer of the Ozaukee County Public Health Department. She worked to expand the scope of the public health department and engage the broader community in improving the health of Ozaukee County residents. As a Peace Corps volunteer in Mali, Johnson worked with rural midwives on malaria prevention, nutrition, pre- and post-natal care, HIV/AIDS prevention, family planning, and women’s literacy programs. Other past experience includes working at the National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health in New Orleans on adolescent girl reproductive health issues and cardiovascular disease prevention in African American and Latino women. Johnson was also the coordinator of health education programs for Aurora Health Care.
Johnson received her undergraduate degree in anthropology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and her master of public health from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. The Wisconsin Public Policy Forum awarded Johnson the Intergovernmental Cooperation Award (2017). She has also been awarded the University of Wisconsin Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs Lloyd D. Gladfelter Award for Government Innovation (2016).
Current Info:
Secretary
Wisconsin Department of Health Services
Culture of Health;Health Care Access;Health Disparities;Medicaid;Population Health;Public Health;Social Determinants of Health
Since Fellowship:
Kirsten Johnson has over 20 years of experience as a public health leader in complex local, state, national, and international organizations.
She joins the administration after previously serving as the health commissioner for the city of Milwaukee following her appointment in January 2021. Prior to serving the city of Milwaukee, Kirsten led the Washington Ozaukee Public Health Department for more than a decade as the director and health officer, overseeing the merger of the two counties’ health departments and later leading a multi-county pandemic response as well as various other public health and health equity initiatives.
Kirsten has her master’s degree in public health from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and holds certifications as a public health professional and certified education specialist.
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