Mayor Brandon Scott fired Baltimore’s health commissioner Monday, seven months into her tenure, his office announced in a brief evening statement offering no additional information about the circumstances.
Dr. Ihuoma Emenuga was sworn in as the commissioner for the Baltimore City Health Department in March and was serving in an interim capacity since Scott nominated her for the role in December.
Exactly what led to Emenuga’s ouster was not clear Monday evening. Bryan Doherty, a spokesperson for the mayor, declined to elaborate on his office’s statement beyond clarifying that Emenuga was “terminated.”
Emenuga’s departure follows a lengthy career in the medical and public health fields, both in Baltimore and abroad.
Most recently, Emenuga was a managing partner at the health care consulting firm Vie Health. She had previously served as the Baltimore health department’s Youth Wellness and Community Health Division, where she oversaw clinical services in schools and also worked as medical director at Chase Brexton Health Care.
Emenuga has an active certification with the Maryland Board of Physicians, issued in 2014 and set to expire in September of this year. The board’s website notes that Emenuga has a primary practice at Park West Health System in Northwest Baltimore, where a health department bio notes that she has served as chief health officer.
Emenuga began her career as a primary care physician in Côte d’Ivoire and holds numerous degrees, including a medical degree from the University of Nigeria, a master’s of science in public health from the University of London, and a master’s of business administration from the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business.
Deputy City Administrator Simone Johnson will serve as interim health commissioner while Scott’s administration conducts a nationwide search for Emenuga’s replacement. Johnson was overseeing the Department of Public Works, the Department of Human Resources, the Department of Transportation, and the information and technology department. City Administrator Faith Leach will now oversee those departments in addition to her other work, according to a memo Leach sent top city officials Monday evening.
Johnson has worked in local and state government for more than two decades and previously worked as chief of staff and chief operating officer for the Health Department, as well as the chief of staff for Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development and the Maryland Transit Administration.
The mayor’s announcement comes just two months after a previous health commissioner, Letitia Dzirasa, resigned from her new role in the mayor’s office and left city government. Serving as the city’s interim deputy mayor of equity, health and human services, Dzirasa was appointed health commissioner in 2019 and steered Baltimore through much of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prior to Dzirasa’s departure, Scott had overseen a recent period of stability in his cabinet. At points in his first term, though, the Democratic mayor has seen high rates of turnover among his top appointees, including departures by the police commissioner, the public works director, the city’s top attorney, the city administrator and two chiefs of staff.
