Steve Sikes, deputy director of agency operations, has been named the Jefferson County Health Department’s interim executive director.
On Feb. 19, Kelley Vollmar resigned from the agency’s top job, and the Health Department’s Board of Trustees voted 4-0 during a Feb. 22 meeting to promote Sikes to the interim position until a new director is hired. Board member Amber Henry was absent.
Department spokeswoman Brianne Zwiener said Feb. 26 that the hiring process for a new director had not been determined yet.
The department’s Personnel Committee recommended Sikes to fill the interim position, and the board announced on Feb. 27 that Sikes had formally accepted it.
According to the department’s contract with Sikes, the position came with a prorated salary increase to $120,000 per year, which was retroactive to Feb. 1. If Sikes returns to his current position after serving as interim director, he will return to his current salary, or a higher amount if the board decides to adjust the deputy position salary.
Sikes, 53, was paid $103,343.51 as deputy director of agency operations, said Jennifer Pinkley, deputy director of agency administration.
Vollmar, who had been director since November 2015, was being paid $141,000 as executive director.
Sikes said he is excited about the interim appointment.
“I have been in public health for 30 years in various job functions and levels,” Sikes said. “Becoming the interim executive director provides a whole different perspective on how a local county public health department functions. It is an exciting opportunity for me personally and the department.
“My goal is to work closely with the Board of Trustees and with the exceptional employees of JCHD to ensure the continued excellent public health services this department has provided over the many years. I feel I have the full support of the board, and I feel they trust my judgment to lead this agency during this transition period.”
Sikes lives on the family’s cattle farm in Fredericktown with his wife and three children.
He has been with the Health Department since 2002 and was promoted to environmental supervisor in 2012 and to operations manager in 2016. He was promoted in 2021 to deputy director of agency operations, overseeing agency operations, including IT, facility operations, community services, health education, environmental services and public health preparedness. He also is overseeing the project to build a new Health Department office in Hillsboro.
Prior to joining the Jefferson County Health Department, Sikes, a Southeast Missouri State University graduate, worked for the Stoddard County Health Department, Cape Girardeau County Health Department and the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
Last spring, he received the Missouri Environmental Health Association Lifetime Achievement Award.
“His work is meticulous and thorough,” the Jefferson County Health Department said in its nomination letter for Sikes’ award. “His understanding of food safety, the food code, the lodging program, environmental lead, and other aspects of the environmental program continues to be instrumental in developing and implementing the agency’s policy and procedures.
“His decision-making skills are invaluable, particularly when the county has confronted natural disasters, larger-scale power outages, or routine and not-so-routine facility fires or truck wrecks.”
The nomination letter also said Sikes was an integral part of the COVID-19 pandemic public health response, working night and weekend shifts conducting case investigations and tracing so other staff could take time off.