Janice Garceau has been selected as the new director of the Deschutes County health department.

Deschutes County has hired Janice Garceau, a leader in its Health Services department, as the agency’s new director.

Garceau, who has been director of behavioral health, will oversee more than 400 employees as the director of Deschutes County Health Services beginning in October, a news release said. The former director, George Conway retired at the beginning of the year, and Deputy County Administrator Erik Kropp had been serving as interim director since January. 

During her tenure as behavioral health director, Garceau worked to improve mental health care for kids. Earlier this year, she advocated at a meeting with county commissioners for a grant from the Oregon Health Authority that would give funding to improve school-based outreach for vulnerable populations in rural areas. 

Garceau has worked with the county since 2015, and she became director of behavioral health in 2018. As a licensed social worker, she worked for many years prior in a variety of health service roles in Kentucky and Oregon.

“I am very excited to bring what I learned building a leadership team in behavioral health to the entire department,” Garceau told The Bulletin Tuesday.

Garceau said her first priority is to hire people to fill the public health director position, formerly held by Nahad Sadr-Azodi who left in July, and the now vacant behavioral health director position. She said she also wants to explore greater opportunities for collaboration and innovation within health services. She said an effective way to do so is to rely on both public health and behavioral health expertise derived from shared work during the COVID-19 pandemic.