Kane Co. Public Health Director To Retire Amid Pandemic

KANE COUNTY, IL — Kane County is set to lose it top public health official at the end of November amid the largest surge in coronavirus cases to date.

Kane County Health Department Executive Director Barbara Jeffers recently tendered her resignation, effective Dec. 1, according to a report by Kane County Connects.

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Jeffers has served as the department’s executive director for more than eight years, helping to lead Kane County through outbreaks of tuberculosis, the Ebola virus, the Zika virus and the coronavirus, the report states.

Jeffers touted the Kane County Health Department’s national accreditation as the “highlight” of her career. The county department became the first in Illinois to achieve accreditation from the Public Health Accreditation Board in November 2019.

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“Being a vital contributor and leader of these significant public health achievements has been the highlight of my career,” Jeffers wrote in her resignation letter, Kane County Connects reports.

For the past eight months, Jeffers has led the county’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, and she paid tribute to Kane County Health Department employees for their work.

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“Their performance during the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed how essential their work is to the betterment and survival of our county,” Jeffers wrote, according to the report.

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