PHHS ramps up hiring, rebuilding continues

Cook County Public Health and Human Services (PHHS) is continuing an ambitious hiring effort following a wave of staff resignations earlier this year.

As of the Public Health and Human Service board’s November meeting, the department had hired two new children and family services case managers. One began work Dec. 3, while the second is expected to start in late December or early January.

The department experienced a series of departures in 2025. Five staff members left before June, followed by four resignations in August. Three of those departures — Alison McIntyre, John Spieker and Dana Logan — were tied to an investigation into the department.

Following the resignations, Plamen Dimitrov was appointed interim director. At the time, PHHS had seven vacant positions out of 17 on its services teams.

In the months since, the department has sought to rebuild staffing levels by hiring temporary workers, conducting interviews and training new employees.

“We’re working on enhancing our onboarding template to include some training documents and plans for the specific positions and not just a general template for all employees,” Dimitrov told WTIP.

At the September board meeting, County Administrator Kristen Trebil-Halbersma briefed commissioners on efforts to improve working conditions at PHHS through better policies and procedures.

“The feedback that I’m getting from staff is that things are more organized and more streamlined, but we have a lot of work to do yet. We know that,” Dimitrov said.

Dimitrov said he hopes to see the department fully staffed and a permanent director hired so the agency can focus on updating policies and procedures.

However, filling the director’s position may take time. The job has been posted, but at the October board meeting, Health and Human Services consultant Meghan Mohs told commissioners that recruitment is difficult statewide.

“I think Cook County is not at all unique in being challenged to find someone who has the right qualifications,” Mohs said.

Mohs said other small, rural counties in Minnesota are sharing directors under regional arrangements. She is also conducting an evaluation of the department and will present recommendations based on her findings, according to Dimitrov.

Mohs and another consultant, David Lee, are scheduled to complete their work with PHHS in February 2026.

“We’ve been down a few people in our department, and we’ve been trying really hard to fill those positions with qualified staff so that we can get to the point where we can be more proactive in our efforts to update policies and manuals,” Dimitrove said. “But we needed to have some key positions filled before that.”

WTIP’s Josh Hinke spoke to Dimitrov about Public Health and Human Services hiring efforts, and other updates from the department. The audio of that conversation can be found below:

Josh Hinke December 4, 2025