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Julie Arel • Interim Health Commissioner

Julie Arel was named interim commissioner of health in April of 2025, following the retirement of Dr. Mark Levine. She was appointed deputy commissioner in July of 2022.

Arel served for eight years as director of the Health Department’s Division of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. She also was the section chief managing the operational aspects of the department’s COVID-19 pandemic emergency response.

Before joining the department, Deputy Commissioner Arel had been the executive director for Open Door Clinic in Middlebury, Parent to Parent of Vermont and Vermont Family Network, and the New England Rural Health Roundtable. She is a graduate of Smith College and earned Masters’ degrees in social work and in public health from Boston University.

Vermont Health Commissioners 1890 - 2016

Health Commissioner

2017 - 2025  • Mark Levine, MD

2011 - 2017 • Harry Chen, MD

2008 - 2011 • Wendy Davis, MD

2006 - 2008 • Sharon Moffatt, RN, BSN, MSN

2003 - 2006 • Paul Jarris, MD, MBA

1989 - 2003 • Jan Carney, MD, MPH

1982 - 1989 • Roberta Coffin, MD

1978 - 1982 • Lloyd Novick, MD, MPH

1976 - 1978 • Marshall McBean, MSc, MD

1973 - 1976 • Anthony Robbins, MD, MPA

1949 - 1973 • Robert Aiken, MD, MPH

Board of Health Secretary

1946 - 1949 • Robert Aiken, MD, MPH 

1918 - 1946 • Charles Dalton, MD 

1890 - 1918 • Charles Caverly, MD 

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Kelly Dougherty • Deputy Health Commissioner

Kelly Dougherty was appointed deputy commissioner in February 2019.

Dougherty has extensive experience in the public health, health care and social service fields through professional roles in hospitals, state government and non-profit organizations. She holds masters’ degrees in social work and in public health, both from the University of Pittsburgh. In her graduate studies, her focus was on social policy, administration and maternal and child health.

Prior to her appointment, Dougherty served as executive director of Steps to End Domestic Violence, a prevention and advocacy organization dedicated to helping those who have been affected by domestic violence achieve safety and independence.

Her appointment marks a return to the Vermont Department of Health, where she served from 2000 to 2008 in various roles in Local Health as well as with the Blueprint for Health.

 

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Helen Reid • Interim Deputy Health Commissioner

Helen Reid has been with the Department of Health since 2016, first as division director of Health Surveillance and more recently as division director of Laboratory Science and Infectious Disease. During the pandemic, Helen not only managed her usual role but also volunteered to fill the role of public health lab director, where she stabilized the State’s response to COVID-19 testing. 

She has also been involved in leading multi-department efforts to stand up respite housing and is capitalizing on the COVID collaboration to deepen the public relationship with the Department of Corrections. Prior to working at the Health Department, Reid served as the Vice President of Health Center Operations for Planned Parenthood of Northern New England.

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