Butler County Board of Health Names Erik Balster Health Commissioner

October 28, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Erin Smiley, 513-887-5224

Butler County Board of Health Names Erik Balster Health Commissioner 

BUTLER COUNTY, OHIO – The Butler County Board of Health voted in its recent monthly meeting to appoint Erik Balster as the Butler County Health Commissioner beginning November 29, 2021. Dr. Michelle Burch, Medical Director for the Butler County General Health District, has served as the interim Health Commissioner since August 2021. 

“We are enthusiastic about starting this next chapter with Erik leading the Health District out of the pandemic,” says Leon Simpson, president of the Butler County Board of Health. “Public health officials throughout the state speak high praise for Erik and we look forward to him bringing his experience to Butler County. We can’t thank Dr. Burch enough for her leadership and stepping up while the Board went through the hiring process,” Simpson adds. 

Balster is a graduate of the Ohio State University with a bachelor’s degree in zoology and earned a master’s in public health from Wright State University. He began his career as an Epidemiological Investigator at the Ohio Department of Health, served as a registered sanitarian and emergency response coordinator at the Warren County Health Department, and as Health Commissioner for Preble County Health Department since 2013. Balster was also elected President of the Association of Ohio Health Commissioners during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

“I am really excited to work with the staff,” says Balster. “As we come out of the COVID-19 pandemic, I’m eager to work on modernizing public health with a focus on how technology can better serve the community and improve health outcomes.”

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