OTTAWA COUNTY — Ottawa County Health Officer Adeline Hambley has been recognized for contributions to strengthening public health policy after a yearlong legal battle with the former far-right majority on the county commission.

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 strengthen 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 Michigan Public Health Week Partnership, a collaboration of state and local health agencies, universities and organizations dedicated to advancing public health, presents the awards each spring.

“Public health is built on the dedication of individuals and organizations working tirelessly to improve the well-being of their communities," said Elizabeth Hertel, MDHHS director. “These annual public health awards recognize those who go above and beyond to create a healthier Michigan for all. Their passion and commitment inspire us to continue striving for a future where every Michigan resident has the opportunity to thrive.”

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. 

“I am deeply honored to receive this recognition. I am grateful to the entire public health team and the Ottawa County community who stood with us during challenging times,” Hambley said. “The past few years have reminded me that public health is both a professional responsibility and a community commitment. Every day, our dedicated staff works to prevent disease, promote wellness, and protect our environment because everyone deserves the opportunity to be healthy.”

How we got here

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 fund 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.

Public health becomes a political football

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.

Despite the overwhelming support, Hambley recognized that she and public health have critics, pointing to local Republican legislators who didn't acknowledge her recent award.

"They probably didn't want to touch it with a 10-foot pole," she said. "It was very clear that it was for defending the legal authority of the health officer and staying in the position."

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.

"It's just sour grapes, but par for the course."

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 rhetoric.” 

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.” 

Morale slowly improving

With OI no longer in the majority — the board currently has six traditional Republicans, the four OI commissioners and one Democrat — Hambley said things are returning back to normal in the county.

"I would say, certainly locally, it feels better," she said. "Every time something related to public health seems to come up on an agenda, the original Ottawa Impact commissioners want to pull it off and have a bunch of commentary about it, but at least there are other people on the board that maintain some level of civility, and we don't feel like every single thing we bring through is just going to get shot down."

A recent discussion at the county's Planning and Policy Committee saw OI Commissioner Allison Miedema oppose the decision by committee Chair Phil Kuyers to allow the health department to give quarterly reports rather than monthly.

Hambley said she wasn't surprised.

"I think that the statement is: ‘They have lots of pertinent information that's important for the community and timely that they need to get out through this forum.’ Realistically, they do like having us be their whipping boy for things," she said.

She said monthly or quarterly reports can be adequate, as long as the county has a capable administration to foster information sharing between department heads and commissioners.

"To me, quarterly reports seem fine, as long as you have an administrator who's competent," she said. "Going to quarterly is fine, where you can provide either a written update or if I've got this timely, pertinent thing, I can give a quick update on this."

Nationally, Hambley is feeling more uncertain after several decisions by the Trump Administration to pull grant funding for things such as infectious disease tracking, prevention and treatment.

"As a whole, I feel like the department is kind of still in limbo, or feeling stressed, because of what's happening on a federal level," Hambley said. "That whole narrative of ‘public health is crap’ — you know, that’s not great."

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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.

— Sarah Leach is the executive editor of the Ottawa News Network. Contact her at sleach@ottawanewsnetwork.org. Follow her on Twitter @ONNLeach.