Baltimore’s top health official will step down at the end of June, as part of a series of planned changes in city leadership.
Dr. Letitia Dzirasa, the deputy mayor for Equity, Health, and Human Services, will leave her role on June 5, according to a memorandum from Chief Administrative Officer Faith Leach obtained by The Baltimore Sun. The changes also include promotions for officials in Mayor Brandon Scott’s administration, including his current communications director, deputy chief of staff, and the chief policy officer for the Mayor’s Office of Children and Family Success.
Dzirasa, a pediatrician who received her medical degree from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, has served as deputy mayor since April 2023. She is leaving to take a “well-deserved break from public service,” according to Scott.
“I am so grateful to Dr. Dzirasa for her exceptional leadership and service to the City of Baltimore through some of our most difficult days,” he said in a statement. “Dr. D was instrumental in protecting our community and saving countless lives as our Health Commissioner. And she has ensured that science, data, and equity are kept at the forefront of our work to support Baltimore’s most vulnerable residents as Deputy Mayor.”
Dzirasa previously served as city health commissioner from March 2019 to April 2023. During that time, Dzirasa led the city’s COVID response, during which Baltimore launched a mass testing drive-thru site at Pimlico Race Course, and partnered with the University of Maryland Medical System to convert the Lord Baltimore Hotel into a COVID command center. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health lauded the city in a 2021 study that found Baltimore fared better than most similar cities during the pandemic for avoiding sickness and death and achieving high levels of vaccination.
Leach announced Dzirasa’s departure with “mixed emotions” in a two-page memo to the City Council.
“Please join Mayor Scott in thanking Dr. Dzirasa for her incredible leadership and service to the City of Baltimore,” she wrote.
John David “J.D.” Merrill, the mayor’s current deputy chief of staff, will serve as Dzirasa’s interim replacement.
Scott’s communications director, Bryan Doherty, is being promoted to deputy chief of staff.
Baltimore Sun reporter Emily Opilo contributed to this article. This article will be updated.
