16-04-2025
Embattled Ottawa County health officer honored with state policy award
Adeline Hambley holding her 2025 Jean Chabut Award. Photo by Dr. Gwendolyn Unzicker.
OTTAWA COUNTY — After a yearlong legal battle with a far-right county commission, Ottawa County's administrative health officer has been recognized with a statewide award for her dedication to defending the role.
Adeline Hambley was awarded the 2025 Jean Chabut Health Policy Champion award in Lansing on April 9 from the Michigan Public Health Week Partnership as part of Public Health Week in Michigan.
The award recognizes individuals or organizations for significant contributions to the health and well-being of Michigan citizens in the policy arena at local and/or state levels that strengthens public health.
'I didn't know anything about it, so they told me that I was awarded it. That was pretty cool,' Hambley said.
The award comes after Hambley successfully fought off attempts by the county's former far-right majority, known as Ottawa Impact, to remove her from her position.
In January 2023, the far-right Ottawa Impact controlling majority on the board of commissioners attempted to demote, then fire Hambley in favor of a candidate who had no prior experience in public health.
Hambley sued the board and the county in February 2023, claiming the board overstepped its legal authority and that health officers had certain inalienable rights afforded under state law. What followed was two years of unprecedented strain between the board and the county's health department.
In April 2023, a circuit court judge granted Hambley a preliminary injunction, allowing her to remain in her role until a trial could take place. However, the Michigan Court of Appeals partially vacated that injunction, saying the board had the legal right to fire Hambley as long as state law was followed.
Throughout summer 2023, the board, then-administrator John Gibbs and Hambley battled over a proposed budget for the department. In the end, the OI majority voted to cut $4 million from the health department's budget and left its rainy day funded nearly depleted.
The board then held a termination hearing in October 2023, which led to an infamous Nov. 6 meeting where the board voted 7-3 to settle with Hambley for $4 million in exchange for her resignation — although OI commissioners soon attempted to walk back the agreement, claiming a deal hadn't been reached.
In January 2024, a Muskegon County judge found that, although an agreement was discussed, the board's vote wasn't clearly worded enough to be legally binding.
Ultimately, the parties settled in February 2024, with Hambley remaining in her role and the county paying her legal fees.
Hambley said she is grateful for the support she received over the past two years.
'The community as a whole has been really supportive, and that has been great … because I can't imagine doing this for this length of time — people that were constantly outside picketing and sending death threats and hating you,' she said. 'I mean, I still would have done it, but certainly having the community backing makes it and the support of staff makes it so much better. So it was nice to see it on a statewide level.'
She said she wants people to look at her story as one of inspiration
'If nothing else, I think it helps to maybe set the tone for other health officers in the state that our positions are important, they are legally protected, and that they should stand up and protect the role and their community. So I'm hopeful that perhaps others will see that importance,' she said.
She said it's unfortunate that public health has become a political football in the context of the current political climate.
'Some people say it's lawfare, or it's politics, and it's, like, 'No, man. I didn't make public health political. Just because they're using it as a political tool doesn't mean my defending the laws that govern the work makes it political in nature,'' she said. 'It's really frustrating. But they're never gonna feel differently, so, oh well.'
Hambley said public health can be taken for granted when it's working successfully, which has led to a scenario where everyday citizens might not realize all the benefits and advancements that have resulted from its various services and programs.
'I feel like the success of public health has made people blind to the importance of public health to the community,' she said. 'We don't want to go back to the days of people dying of dysentery and typhoid and tetanus.'
Hambley said conversations at the Lansing conference included health officers asking what they can do to help get the word out on why public health is so critical to healthy communities.
'And I spoke up and said that I think that it is being champions of public health in your community. We are the closest to the community where the boots are on the ground — we are the community; we live here,' she said. 'That's why we have those legal protections in place — so we can make, sometimes, those uncomfortable decisions to protect everybody, including the most vulnerable.'
'And that's how you're going to have people even know what we do, what public health is … by being that person that stands up. Also, it gets buy-in for what we do, and people see value in it, rather than rely on the rhetoric of lazy bureaucrats.'
Hambley said showing up and standing tall sometimes includes making unpopular decisions, particularly when it comes to infectious disease mitigation, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
'Really reinforcing that public servant aspect — we are here to serve the community, but that may not please everybody, because it's to protect the most vulnerable as well, but you have to stand in that space,' she said. 'You have to be willing to be uncomfortable and there's going to be members in the community you're never going to win over, but there's going to be a whole lot that see that for what it is.'
The Jean Chabut Health Policy Champion award recognizes individuals or organizations that have made significant contributions in the policy arena to strengthen public health. In 2015, this award was renamed in memory of Jean Chabut, who served as deputy director of Public Health at the Michigan Department of Community Health from 2003 to 2012. From her beginnings as a public health nurse in Detroit, through her transition to public health administrator, until her death in 2014, Chabut was a tireless advocate who fought for improved health for Michigan's most vulnerable citizens.
Prior to becoming the department's chief executive, Hambley served as environmental health manager from 2011 to 2022. She has held various local, state and national leadership positions. She holds a master of business administration degree and a bachelor of science degree from Grand Valley State University.
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