Knox Public Health commissioner says she will retire next year

Knox County Health Commissioner Julie Miller plans to retire next year, according to a press release.

Miller announced her retirement to the Knox County Board of Health during the group’s recent meeting. Her last day will be July 1, 2022.

Miller has been health commissioner for the county health department since 2010. During her tenure, Miller led the agency’s effort to achieve national accreditation, acquired federal funding to start the Knox County Community Health Center, reorganized the agency to better address community health issues, successfully passed two funding levies and changed the agency name to Knox Public Health. Most recently, she has been the face and voice of the agency’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to serving as health commissioner, Miller has been active with several community agencies including The Winter Sanctuary Homeless Shelter, New Directions Domestic Abuse Shelter, the YMCA, Mental Health and Recovery for Knox and Licking Counties and United Way of Knox County.

She was a recipient of the Knox County Chamber of Commerce’s Woman in Business in 2019 and received the Chamber Lifetime Achievement award for 2021; was named Nurse of the Year in the public health category by the Ohio Chapter of the March of Dimes in 2014; and given the Knox County Wellness and Recovery Champion Award by Mental Health and Recovery for Knox and Licking Counties in 2019.

Miller’s retirement caps a 40-year career in the health field including working as an administrator, nursing educator and as a public health professional in Knox, Union, Morrow, Richland and Delaware counties.