In September 2021, the Town of Lexington announced the appointment of Joanne Belanger as the new Director of Public Health. In this role, Ms. Belanger is responsible for developing, managing, and assessing the comprehensive environmental health, community health, and public health emergency preparedness programs for Lexington. She will also lead Lexington’s public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic as it develops.

On Friday, December 3, 2021 at 9:30 AM, Ms. Belanger will speak to the League of Women Voters Lexington as part of our First Friday program. She will introduce herself and talk about her background and plans for the Lexington Health Department. She will also provide an update on COVID-19 as the town continues its program of testing, vaccinations/boosters, and vaccines become available to children 5-11 years old.

Joanne Belanger holds bachelor’s degree in health services administration from Providence College and an associate’s degree in nursing from Mass. Bay Community College. She comes to Lexington from the City of Lowell, where she served as Director of Health and Human Services, overseeing five city departments, with an 80 person staff.  Prior to that, she spent more than 30 years at the Town of Andover Health Department ..In addition, Belanger is a registered nurse, Certified Professional Food Manager, Mass. Soil Evaluator, Certified Pool Operator, and has training in Incident Command Structure (ICS).