Fenty Taps Md. Official To Direct Health Dept.

D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty yesterday appointed Baltimore County's top-ranking public health official as director of the District's troubled Department of Health.

Pierre Vigilance, 38, a London native who came to the United States for college and medical school, has headed Baltimore County's health agency since 2005, overseeing a staff of 533 and an annual budget of $52 million. The new job will be considerably bigger.

The D.C. Health Department has about 1,200 employees and an almost $2 billion budget, and it has been criticized for its performance in several areas, including failing to help poor, uninsured residents obtain care, neglecting to recoup federal dollars from Medicaid and Medicare, and not doing enough to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS and combat childhood obesity.

Vigilance, who will make $179,000 a year, is scheduled to start in April.

"This is a great day for the wellbeing of all District residents," Fenty (D) said in a news release. "Dr. Vigilance brings us an energy that's unparalleled in his field, and a wealth of experience in dealing with urban health issues."

The move comes four months after Fenty fired Gregg A. Pane, citing the need for a "more aggressive health strategy." Carlos Cano served as interim director. He had been the senior deputy director of the Health Department's Community Health Administration.

Asked in an interview what his top priority will be, Vigilance said he will examine how the department communicates within the agency and to hospitals, providers and public.

"We want to see where we do it well and where we don't, and create a strong strategic mission and vision," he said.

Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr. (D) praised Vigilance's work with the uninsured and called him an "excellent communicator."

"He delivers information, and he really is good at communicating with people," Smith said.

The appointment came the same day Fenty laid out a strategy to target some of the worst health problems affecting District youth, including obesity, asthma, infant mortality and teen pregnancy, through a public-private partnership.

While in Baltimore County, Vigilance established a quantitative management reporting system, improved access to care for the medically uninsured and lobbied for legislation that aimed to reduce youth access to tobacco, according to the release.