Environmental Health Director Announced

By Diane Lee, Public Information Officer, Garrett County Health Department

The Garrett County Health Department has announced the appointment of a new Director of Environmental Health. Craig Umbel has been named as the Director, although he has already been working for the Health Department for almost 30 years.

Craig started his career with Garrett County Health Department (GCHD) as an Environmental Health Specialist Trainee in 1993 when staff of that program were still called Sanitarians. He worked his way up the rungs in Environmental Health, passing his board exam in 1995, becoming a supervisor in 2004, and program supervisor two years later. He was name Director after the job became vacant with the retirement of Steve Sherrard on January 1, 2023.

“I enjoy the work in Environmental Health because no day is ever the same,” Craig said. “I like being able to get out of the office to work in the field, and I believe our role in Environmental Health truly impacts the health of the citizens of Garrett County.”

Some of the goals of the new director are to scan all the department records to create a digital database, to help bring public sewage to the south end of the lake, and to continue to train staff who have a strong knowledge of Environmental Health in the county.

In addition to his Environmental Health training, Craig has a strong background in fire and EMS. He has been certified as a firefighter/EMT since 1991 and has served as a member of the Wisp Ski Patrol for many years. This emergency experience became important to GCHD after 9/11 when there was no Hazmat team in the county. At that time Environmental Health became the accountable agency to respond to white powder and other calls which would normally be handled by a Hazmat team. Because of his emergency background, the Health Officer allowed him to certify as a Hazmat Technician.

“Over the years I worked with Emergency Management and the fire chiefs to form a Special Operations team,” Craig said. “The Garrett County Hazmat team currently has 17 Hazmat Technicians and about 10 Hazmat Operations personnel.”

“While our office may seem quiet, we are actually on the front lines, doing public health daily to prevent disease and ensure that Garrett County remains a healthy place to live and vacation,” Craig added. “There is almost nothing that residents and visitors do daily that Environmental Health hasn’t been a part of to ensure that it is safe. Our office regulates not only the septic, well, restaurant inspection, and rabies programs, but we also inspect daycares, foster care, beaches, lakes, mobile home parks, campgrounds, and Deep Creek Lake rentals.”

For more information about Environmental Health, call the office at 301-334-7780.

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John Corbin (BS, CPT, MCPT, CSNC)

Communications, Data Science, and Informatics Administrator, Health Equity/Minority Health Coordinator, Public Information Officer at Garrett County Health Department

Population Health, Innovation, and Informatics Unit
Contact: [email protected]

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