Fenty Taps Md. Official To Direct Health Dept.

Vigilance acknowledged that the District, with a significant concentration of urban poor, will present significant challenges he did not face as much in Baltimore County. However, he noted that he had served as assistant commissioner in Baltimore city for health promotion and disease prevention, dealing in outreach programs for HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases.

Vigilance is a graduate of George Washington University and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and he has a master's in public health policy and management from Johns Hopkins.

Vigilance's appointment would be subject to confirmation by the D.C. Council. David A. Catania (I-At Large), chairman of the Committee on Health, met with Vigilance on Thursday and hailed his arrival.

"The Mayor and his team deserve a lot of credit for the manner in which they conducted this search," Catania said in a statement. "The process was deliberate but quick, which was necessary given the importance of the position to the city's healthcare system."

Yesterday, Vigilance told an anecdote about his days as a resident at Howard University Hospital, when he was chastised by a patient for being overweight. At 5 feet 9, Vigilance weighed 248 pounds and had not thought much about own physical condition.

He threw out the high calorie soda and snack foods. He began walking more, then took up running. Last year, he completed the Baltimore Marathon, and he has slimmed down to 190 pounds, he said.

"It just didn't look right," he said. "I couldn't be a public health spokesperson without making sure I took care of myself."