Baltimore County Department of Health
Office of the Deputy Health Officer
6401 Yord Rd
Baltimore,
MD
21212
Email:
dleister@baltimorecountymd.gov
Biographical Sketch:
Ms. Leister is currently the Deputy Health Officer for Baltimore County Department of Health. She has been employed by the Health Department for the past 25 years, having started her career as a public health nurse providing assessment and case management to homebound geriatric clients. Since her start at the health department she has advanced to nursing supervisor, Bureau Director and to her current position as Deputy Health Officer. Ms. Leister has been instrumental in emergency response planning activities within the Department. She served as the Department’s liaison to the Y2K planning committee, and eventually served as the Department representative to the County Emergency Operations Center, serving as the primary representative during the County’s response to Hurricane Isabel. After the Anthrax attacks in 2001, Ms. Leister worked with the department to coordinate a public information line for residents concerned about their risk to this biological agent. Since that time she has taken the lead to create a full service public information hotline that includes a call center, protocols for operators, and technology to support the operation. During the H1N1 influenza outbreak she assisted the Health Officer in coordinating a department wide response to the pandemic; including placing the hotline into operation and coordinating daily briefings of management staff along with authorizing regular status reports for partners. During the H1N1 vaccine campaign that followed the outbreak Ms. Leister coordinated an internal workgroup to review all aspects of the Department’s H1N1 response and served as incident commander at multiple mass vaccination clinic sites. Ms. Leister is a graduate of St. Joseph School of Nursing Diploma program and University of Maryland School of Nursing Bachelor’s in Nursing Program.