SPOKANE, Wash — In a special meeting on Thursday night, the board of the Spokane Regional Health District voted 8-4 to terminate its health officer, Dr. Bob Lutz.
Immediately afterward, the board voted unanimously to replace him temporarily with Dr. Francisco "Frank" Velazquez.
Before the meeting, only one name had been floated as a possible replacement for Lutz should the board choose to fire him. SRHD Administrative Officer Amelia Clark mentioned Dr. Mary Bergum in a press conference. Bergum currently works for the health district as the Medical Director of Treatment Services and she practices family medicine out of a practice on the South Hill.
However, hers was not the name nominated on Thursday night. Instead, Spokane County Commissioner and Board Member Al French put Velazquez's name on the table.
Washington state law requires that local health officers be "an experienced physician licensed to practice medicine."
Most of Velazquez's recent work appears to be in medical consulting and administration, but he is a doctor.
According to his LinkedIn profile, he obtained his M.D. at the Universidad Central del Caribe in Puerto Rico, then later a master's degree in healthcare management from Harvard University.
He was formerly the president and CEO of Pathology Associates Medical Laboratories, a Spokane-based lab company.
French informed the board that Velazquez was interested only in serving as interim health officer and did not want the role permanently. No board member raised concerns about his qualifications in the meeting.
Spokane City Council President Breean Beggs requested that the appointment officially end at the board's next meeting on Dec. 3. That way, the board could decide whether to renew Velazquez for a longer appointment or nominate a different candidate.
The board voted unanimously to do exactly that, meaning Velazquez will serve as Spokane's new health officer at least until December.