New Public Health Director Takes Over In Worcester, Nearby Towns

WORCESTER, MA — Worcester has hired a Springfield-area public health leader to take over the city's Division of Public Health, which also oversees a regional health department that includes several nearby towns.

Soloe Dennis, who has been Springfield's deputy health commissioner since 2016, will take over following the departure over the summer of Karyn Clark, who left Worcester to work in the Millbury town manager's office.

Dennis will oversee a department that provides community health services in Worcester, and is the lead agency in the Central Massachusetts Regional Public Health Alliance, which includes Grafton, Millbury, Shrewsbury and West Boylston.

“I am confident that Soloe is the right person to lead the Division of Public Health as Worcester faces challenges such as health disparities, COVID-19, homelessness, and substance misuse. He has accomplished amazing work throughout the state, and I am eager to work closely with him and the entire Division to advance our city’s health and well-being and build on the achievements of previous directors,” Health and Human Services Commissioner Matilde Castiel said in a news release.

Before Worcester, Dennis was Springfield's deputy commissioner of the city's Department of Health and Human Services. Before Springfield, he worked for the state Department of Public Health as the director of local health initiatives in western Massachusetts. He also worked as the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission's senior public health planner, and served on the board at the UMass public health school, the state's Regional Public Health Advisory Committee and the Massachusetts Health Council.

Former Worcester deputy public health director Zachary Dyer served as the interim director before Dennis was hired.