The governor announced Tuesday that he had replaced Renee Coleman-Mitchell with Deidre Gifford, commissioner of the state Department of Social Services who will also serve as acting public health commissioner. The official announcement did not say why Coleman-Mitchell was replaced.
Lamont removed her for several reasons including being slow to act on a plan to protect nursing homes from the coronavirus and refusing last year to publicly release school-by-school vaccination rates, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose the information.
A phone message seeking comment was left for Coleman-Mitchell on Tuesday.
"I appreciate Commissioner Coleman-Mitchell's willingness to join my administration and lead one of our most vital state agencies, which is responsible for overseeing so many critical public health needs," Lamont said in a statement. "Her service over the last year has been a great deal of help, particularly in the face of the global COVID-19 pandemic that has brought disruption to many throughout the world."
Coleman-Mitchell had worked for the Public Health Department for 18 years, including the past year as commissioner. She previously was a section chief for the agency, managing chronic disease programs.
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