Melissa Hall Adamson will be the new public health administrator for the McHenry County Department of Health, effective in late November.

Adamson replaces Michael Hill, who left the health department in May after serving almost four years.

Adamson currently is the director of community health policy and planning/assistant administrator for the Peoria City/County Health Department, where she has been building strategic, cross-sector partnerships and collaborations to advance health equity since 2014.

She brings 20 years of managing and evaluating public health operations, programming and communications to the McHenry County Department of Health.

In 1999, Adamson graduated from Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health in Atlanta, Georgia, where she received a master’s degree in public health.

The McHenry County Department of Health employs about 117 people in four divisions (Administrative, Veterinary Public Health, Environmental Health and Public Health Nursing). With locations in Woodstock and Crystal Lake, the department has an operating budget of roughly $6,350,000.

Adamson’s salary will be $130,000 a year, said Keri Zaleski, McHenry County Department of Health community information coordinator.

For information on the health department and its services, visit www.mcdh.info, or find the department on Facebook and Twitter.