Foxborough Health Director Retiring Sooner, Town Ramps Up Hiring

FOXBOROUGH, MA — Town officials were left scrambling to accelerate succession plans after learning Public Health Director Pauline Zajdel is retiring earlier than expected.

At Tuesday's selectmen meeting, Assistant Town Manager Michael Johns told the board Zajdel moved up her departure date from the year's end to Thanksgiving week. Johns and Town Manager William Keegan said the new timeline forces officials to reevaluate how they will fill the vacancy, which was already a priority because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Johns said he already began hiring efforts with the understanding Zajdel would be retiring five weeks from now. He said that timeline was already going to be difficult to meet due to difficulties in finding qualified candidates.

Keegan said other towns have had similar situations and have taken a chance on hiring sanitarians with less experience for their roles, but this isn't something he thinks the town should risk.

"It's unfortunate, especially in this environment right now," Keegan said. "We don't want to keep that position vacant for very long, and given the consideration we're dealing with a spike in cases and the fact we're probably on the verge of a major inoculation effort in town, we want to make sure it's well managed throughout that process."

Keegan and Johns suggested the fire department command staff could temporarily help oversee health department functions while the search to replace Zajdel continues. Both said Deputy Fire Chief Thomas Kenvin was a crucial part of the town's COVID-19 response efforts as the town's public health nurse. Fire Chief Michael Kelleher is also a registered sanitarian.

Board members were not optimistic about the stopgap measure, but Keegan does have the authority to appoint the health director. Keegans said he hasn't ruled out tapping into the fire department, but first wants to meet with Health Board Chair Eric Arvedon to discuss the matter.