Health administrator fired, plans wrongful termination suit against Monroe County

By midmorning on Friday (Sept. 11), it was apparent that something had changed in the leadership of Monroe County’s health department, but no one in county government was saying exactly what. Every county official reached by The B Square directed any inquiries to human resources.

In a statement given to the B Square by the county’s human resources and legal departments, the county said: “There has been a change in administration within the Monroe County Health Department. The county remains committed to ensuring the needs of our community are met, and services continue without interruption.”

The statement did not say whether health administrator Lori Kelley had resigned, been terminated, been placed on leave, or remained a county employee in some other capacity. But late morning on Friday when The B Square visited the health department building at 7th Street and College Avenue, Kelley was not there.

Confirmation that Kelley had been fired came from Kelley’s attorney, Mark Waterfill, who specializes in employment law. He told The B Square: “Lori Kelley adamantly contends that she’s the victim of wrongful termination, that she was sexually harassed at work and complained about that, and fired in retaliation for her complaints. And she intends to file an EEOC [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] charge and then pursue a lawsuit against Monroe County.”

Waterfill added, “Lori Kelley provided excellent service to Monroe County and regrets that she’s been fired.”

According to the Monroe County salary ordinance for 2026, the health administrator position this year is paid $86,092.

Kelley has headed the department since the summer of 2022. Kelley’s departure comes at a challenging moment for the department, which is still trying to rebuild its public-health nursing operation after IU Health last year ended a 60-year long relationship with the department.

Just three weeks ago, the health department apparently had no public health nurses on staff. At an Aug. 20 county board of health meeting, Kelley reported that 60 case investigations had not yet been started, out of 108 then in the department’s work queue. Lower-priority cases were “just sitting there” until the department had more capacity, she said. Public health functions were being performed in part with pitched-in efforts from staff who happen to have some nursing credentials, but whose jobs are not nursing per se.

At the same Aug. 20 meeting, a former department employee publicly accused Kelley and county health officer Sarah Ryterband of contributing to working conditions that led her to resign.

Under state law, it’s the health officer (Ryterband) who hires “requisite staff,” which includes the health administrator (Kelley). Under state law, it’s the board of health that appoints the health officer.

The board of health itself has been under stress for the last few years. In early 2023, the county commissioners removed a board member before she could resign. In late in 2025 the board saw three departures at the same time and the current board is now two shy of the number prescribed by state law, which is seven.

Current board members are: Lisa Hanner-Robinson (chair), Michael Teague, Stephen Pritchard, Kay Leach, and Kevin Moore. Six of the board of health members are appointed by county commissioners, with the seventh named by the county council.

Allegations from former public health nurse

At the board of health’s Aug. 20 meeting, Christina Kempf told the board of health that she had resigned the previous month from her position as a public health nurse. Kempf had worked in public health for nearly 20 years, including about a decade with the Monroe County health department in several roles.

Kempf told the board that from February until she left, she had effectively been the department’s only public health nurse, apart from a brief period when another nurse was getting trained. Kempf also said there was some public health nursing assistance from another employee who covered work with tuberculosis patients.

Kempf alleged that she was denied additional training that she considered necessary to perform her nursing duties safely. She further alleged that she was denied leave requests and faced threats of termination. She also said she had gone to the county’s human resources department over workplace issues.

Kempf further alleged that, after an HR intervention, Ryterband had been prohibited from coming into Kempf’s office or speaking with her alone. But Kempf said that the behavior of Ryterband’s that she found objectionable continued even in Kelley’s presence.

Kempf told the board that she eventually concluded she could no longer accept responsibility for work that amounted to several nursing positions or risk making clinical mistakes without adequate training. Her departure left the county with no public health nurses. The B Square has not independently investigated Kempf’s allegations.

Later in the same meeting, Kelley gave an update to the board acknowledging the staffing challenge. She said two recent nursing candidates had not moved forward. One had not yet taken a licensing exam, while the other had concerns about joining a department without a manager in place. Kelley proposed hiring a health services director first, followed by nurses and a clinical assistant, with a nurse-supervisor position eventually to be added, which would provide day-to-day clinical oversight.

The current nursing staffing challenge stems from a decision announced a year ago by IU Health.

IU Health told the county in 2025 that on Dec. 31 of that year it would end a public-health services arrangement that had existed in some form for more than 60 years. Under the contract, IU Health nurses provided vaccinations, communicable-disease testing and investigations, contact tracing and other public-health services. The county was still legally responsible for ensuring those services were provided.

Three IU Health nurses had been doing that work in 2025. Kelley’s preferred approach was to bring the work inside county government, operating from the health department building at 7th Street and College Avenue. That would have used some space formerly occupied by Futures Family Planning Clinic, another county-run health operation whose collapse in 2024 had generated controversy.

By November 2025, the county had posted three public-health nursing jobs. The work assigned to those positions included communicable-disease investigations, contact tracing, vaccinations, screenings, health education, school health work and emergency response.

In August 2026, however, the three nursing positions were vacant.

Contract for nurses approved, then rescinded

The staffing issue that followed the end of the IU Health arrangement led Kelley this year to pursue temporary contract nurses through Amergis Healthcare Staffing.

On July 23, Kelley told county commissioners that the department was receiving applications for permanent nursing jobs but was struggling to recruit experienced applicants at the county’s entry-level pay rate. Under the proposed Amergis agreement, the county would pay $65 an hour for a registered nurse and $55 an hour for a licensed practical nurse. Amergis would employ the workers and provide their benefits.

Commissioners voted 2–0 to approve the agreement contingent on a review by human resources.

But on Aug. 20, commissioners rescinded that approval. Commissioner Julie Thomas said at the Aug. 20 meeting that a review of the paperwork showed the contract had not yet gone through the board of health. She also said the commissioners agenda material had indicated that the county legal department had reviewed and approved the contract when it had not.

Thomas said she wanted to wipe the slate clean and allow the proper process to start again. The rescinding of the contract passed 2–0. That did not prevent the health department from bringing the proposed staffing arrangement back through the required channels.

Later that same day, Kelley told the board of health that the department’s longer-term nursing structure needed more than simply filling vacant jobs. The public-health duties that were filled historically through IU Health had been added to the department’s existing responsibilities, including other work required through Health First Indiana (HFI). That’s a state program that gives local health departments more funding to provide a standardized set of core public health services, like disease prevention and maternal and child health among others.

Kelley told the board the department was effectively trying to reconstruct a management structure that had existed under the IU Health arrangement, while at the same time asking county nurses to perform additional Health First Indiana work.

Her proposed sequence was to bring in a health services director first, then three nurses and a clinical assistant, with a nurse supervisor eventually added to provide hands-on clinical oversight.

When one board member asked at that meeting who is currently performing some of the vacant nursing duties, the initial answer was: “Nobody.” Staff from several other parts of the department were covering pieces of the work, including tuberculosis cases, lead case management and vaccine inventory.

Transition to Kelley

Kelley’s time as health administrator started with a significant leadership transition.

Longtime health administrator Penny Caudill introduced Kelley to county commissioners on June 22, 2022, as her replacement. Kelley formally started as administrator on July 15.

At the time Kelley was introduced, Caudill briefed commissioners on Kelley’s graduate degrees in health administration and philanthropy and experience with accreditation, grants and staff development. Kelley spent a transition period getting acquainted with county procedures and department heads before Caudill retired.

By the end of 2022, staff retention had become an issue.

One of the departures that year was Chris Husted, who had managed the Futures Family Planning Clinic since 2015. Husted left in October 2022.

More than two years later, during an April 2025 Board of Health meeting, Husted would tell the board that Kelley’s leadership was one of the reasons she left. At the same meeting, other former employees delivered public comment critical of health department leadership.

Futures clinic closes after 18 years

Futures had been operated by the county Health Department since 2006. Its services were supported through Title X, the federal family-planning program, with the Indiana Family Health Council serving as the intermediary funding organization.

The clinic provided a government-run, nonreligious family-planning option. When it was established, part of the rationale was to provide a neutral alternative for patients who did not want to seek care either from Planned Parenthood or from a faith-based provider.

By 2024, Futures was struggling with staffing. Its staff had completely turned over, and during its final months it did not have a clinic manager. The Indiana Family Health Council also raised concerns directly with Kelley about staffing and administration of the program.

On Aug. 21, 2024, the Board of Health voted to announce a 30-day suspension of county operation of Futures while officials sought a way to preserve the service. The board also authorized the termination of the clinic’s last remaining employee. If the Indiana Family Health Council could provide temporary coverage, county officials hoped Futures could be rebuilt with a completely new staff.

Two days later, the Indiana Family Health Council informed Monroe County that it was terminating the Title X contract. The county arranged short-term coverage through HealthNet, Planned Parenthood and Pace Community Action Agency.

At the time, county personnel administrator Elizabeth Sensenstein told The B Square that 21 full-time and seven part-time employees had left the entire Health Department since June 2022. A full complement of staff in the department was roughly 50 people.

The Indiana Family Health Council eventually replaced Futures with its own Bloomington Family Planning Center, which opened in February 2025.

Health officer turnover

Kelley’s four years as administrator also spanned turnover in the separate position of county health officer.

Thomas Sharp, who had served as Monroe County health officer since 1976, resigned effective April 30, 2023. The board of health selected physician Clark Brittain as his replacement.

Brittain served just through the end of 2024. When he resigned, the board of health recommended Sarah Ryterband, who was then a board of health member, to succeed him. County commissioners confirmed Ryterband as Monroe County health officer on Dec. 18, 2024.

For now, the county government has said nothing official beyond confirming a change in administration.

In the next several weeks, after Kelley’s EEOC charge and subsequent lawsuit are filed, some additional details of what is alleged to have happened inside the health department, and the county’s response to Kelley’s allegations, will likely emerge in the court filings.

In the shorter term, next Tuesday (Sept. 15) Kelley and Ryterband had been scheduled to present the health department’s proposed 2027 budget to the county council. That task will now likely fall to Ryterband alone.