Columbus Health Commissioners

Teresa C. Long, MD, MPH
Health Commissioner

Teresa C. Long, M.D., M.P.H. became the first female Health Commissioner for Columbus in 2002. She was appointed to the post by Mayor Michael B. Coleman and the Columbus Board of Health. Prior to this appointment, she served as Medical Director and Assistant Health Commissioner for the Columbus Health Department from 1986 until 2002.

Before coming to Columbus, Dr. Long served on the front lines of the emerging AIDS epidemic as a physician specialist with the San Francisco Department of Public Health. She conducted her preventive medicine residency with the California Department of Health Services where she developed perinatal AIDS guidelines in addition to other duties.

Upon her arrival in Columbus, she was instrumental in organizing both the department's and the community's response to HIV/AIDS. Her commitment and attention to this disease have been unwavering. In addition to serving on numerous boards and committees, locally, statewide and nationally, Dr. Long is a Clinical Associate Professor at the Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health. She was the first recipient of the Elizabeth Blackwell Award for Pioneering Efforts to Improve Women's and Community Health. She holds a Doctor of Medicine Degree from the University of California – San Francisco and a Master of Public Health from the University of California – Berkeley.  

Mysheika LeMaile-Williams, MD, MPH
Assistant Health Commissioner
Medical Director

Dr. Mysheika LeMaile-Williams joined Columbus Public Health in 2006. A graduate of the University Of Maryland School Of Medicine, Dr. LeMaile-Williams has extensive public health experience. Most recently, she served as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, investigating outbreaks in Ohio and conducting epidemiologic investigations.

Dr. LeMaile-Williams served as the medical director of the Eastern STD Clinic at the Baltimore (Maryland) City Health Department. In addition to overseeing the clinic and providing direct services to clients, she instituted a hepatitis screening initiative and was responsible for a new hepatitis vaccine program. She also served as clinical instructor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Dr. LeMaile-Williams completed a residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Maryland Medical System and currently holds an Ohio medical license. In addition to her medical degree from the University of Maryland, she also received a Master of Public Health from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Arts-Psychology from the University of California at Berkeley.

Deborah A. Coleman RN, MS
Assistant Health Commissioner
Chief Nursing Officer

Debbie Coleman is a Registered Nurse who has worked in the field of Infectious Disease for 30 years, was very involved in guiding the community’s early AIDS efforts. She served as a local, state and national expert on committees, advisory boards and as a speaker at hundreds of presentations.

Ms. Coleman's prior nursing experience was at the Ohio State University Hospitals for 10 years before joining the public health team at the Columbus Health Department in 1987. Debbie established the AIDS Program for the City of Columbus and later merged the STD services with AIDS to create the Sexual Health Program.

Until November 2006, Ms. Coleman served as the Public Health Administrator for the Division of Infectious Disease. She was responsible for the clinical and community programs for Immunizations, Communicable Disease, TB, and Sexual Health which includes a staff of over 120 public health professionals

Ms. Coleman is currently part of a team providing leadership for our community’s response for pandemic influenza. Her role includes training public health and city leaders for pandemic preparedness and planning clinics for immunizations and antiviral medicines should these become available.

Ms. Coleman has received numerous awards including the Mayor’s Award for Excellence, the Outstanding Alumni Award for the OSU College of Nursing, the Excellence in Nursing Service Administration Award from the Ohio Nurses Association and the 2004 Outstanding Public Health Nurse Award from the Ohio Public Health Association.

What she really wants you to know about her is that she is a passionate advocate for Columbus and nurses, as well as flu shots and hand washing. In fact, that is why her license plate says “Wash Hands”. 

Roger D. Cloern, CPA
Assistant Health Commissioner

Roger C. Cloern has been appointed assistant health commissioner at Columbus Public Health in 2007. Mr. Cloern works closely with the health commissioner to guide and help manage the budget process and manage the administrative functions for the department.

Mr. Cloern also served Columbus Public Health most recently as special assistant to the commissioner, and prior to that as acting fiscal manager. In these roles, he was responsible for preparing budgets for Health Special Revenue and grant funds for the health department. Mr. Cloern was also responsible for reviewing and approving legislation, forecasting revenues, approving expenditure requests, and presenting financial information to the Columbus Board of Health and other external users. He also worked as an income tax auditor I, auditing tax returns and financial statements to determine the correct tax liability.

A Certified Public Accountant since 1986, Mr. Cloern has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from The Ohio State University.  

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