February 29, 2008
Mayor Names New Health Director
Mayor Adrian Fenty announced today he has named a new director of the D.C. Department of Health, and he has the basically the coolest name in the world: Dr. Pierre Vigilance. For serious, Dr. Vigilance is going to be looking out for our public health needs now. We eagerly await the announcement of his deputies, Dr. Alert and Dr. Watchful.
“This is a great day for the wellbeing of all District residents,” said Mayor Fenty in a statement. “Dr. Vigilance brings us an energy that’s unparalleled in his field, and a wealth of experience in dealing with urban health issues. We’re excited to have him on board.”
According to the release from the mayor's office, Dr. Vigilance is a veteran public health leader, coming directly from serving as the director and health officer of the Baltimore County Department of Health since 2005. Prior to that, Dr. Vigilance served as the assistant commissioner for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention at the Baltimore City Health Department.
Fenty fired the previous director, Gregg Pane, four months ago, citing the need for a "more aggressive health strategy." Carlos Cano had been the interim director since then.
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no effin way
Whoa. This guy was health director in Baltimore? The Baltimore that was the Syphilis Capitol of U.S. for years?
Man, I really hope he uses a wheelchair and has a German accent. The only cooler name he could have would be Dr. Detroit.
how's this for your headline?
no more pane due to increased vigilance in DC dept. of health
He sounds like one of Superman's enemies.
Is it sad that I know who the guy in the picture is?
Just a little, ksf4, but I'm one to talk since my first reaction was to mutter, "Show heeem de paaaantz... show heem de paaantz!"
lmaooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
i used to have a doctor named Shark Bird
Bah. No doctor will ever have a better name than the infamous (and now retired) Harry Beaver, gynecologist.
My mom's podiatrist is named Dr. Soretoe. I know it's not a good super villain name, but I thought I'd throw that out there.
Whoa. This guy was health director in Baltimore? The Baltimore that was the Syphilis Capitol of U.S. for years?
If you look at the time that he was there, which ended in 2005, Baltimore actually decreased its incidence of primary and secondary syphillis from over 100 cases per 100,000 to about 20 per 100,000 in 2002, which is quite a steep drop considering everything that is required follow such a disease.
It did go back up a little after that, but I think that we can't hang this on Dr. Vigilance.
link: http://www.baltimorehealth.org/snapshots/STDsnapshot.pdf
In fact, it's quite plausible that constant "himness" is the price Dr. Vigilance paid to reduce Syphilis in the first place.