* Gov. Pritzker today…

I am not putting it lightly when I say that she has had one of the hardest jobs in the world.

Follow along with the press conference by clicking here.

* Press release…

Today Governor JB Pritzker announced the Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) Dr. Ngozi Ezike is leaving the agency after three years of service. To celebrate Dr. Ezike’s outstanding tenure and heroic service, the governor issued a proclamation establishing today, March 1, 2022, as #DrEzikeDay. Amaal Tokars, PhD., who is currently the Assistant Director of IDPH will serve as interim director while a nationwide search is conducted to find a permanent replacement. Dr. Ezike’s last day will be March 14, 2022.

“Dr. Ngozi Ezike has led the Illinois Department of Public Health for over three years, her tenure defined not only by her ability to provide the latest expertise and data, but also her empathy and compassion – becoming a beacon of stability for millions during a time of tremendous uncertainty,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “No number of sleepless nights and endless days could wear down her commitment to think first and foremost of Illinois’ most vulnerable. Her departure is a change I am loathe to accept, but I have utmost faith that Dr. Ezike’s next journey will also bring more good to the world – as has been the hallmark of every step of her career. She will go down in the Illinois history books as a woman who saved lives and changed our state for the better.”

“It has been a great honor serving the people of Illinois as the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health. Being the state’s top doc during a global pandemic has been challenging to say the least, but it’s been an amazing journey to work with so many great public health professionals and leaders from all sectors,” said Dr. Ngozi Ezike. “I want to thank Governor Pritzker for the opportunity he provided me and for his dedication to the people of this great state. The dedicated men and women of IDPH, will continue their mission-driven work to protect the health and safety of all Illinois residents.”

Amaal V.E. Tokars, PhD., has served as IDPH Assistant Director since June 2020 and is a Certified Public Health Administrator with a wide range of expertise. Prior to joining the administration, Tokars worked at the Kendall County Health Department and served as the President of the Northern Illinois Public Health Consortium. Previously, Tokars served at the Association for Individual Development for fourteen years where she managed over 30 health and human services sites and programs. Amaal received her Bachelor of Science from Lewis University, and her Masters in family systems as well as a PhD. in Leadership and Policy from Northern Illinois University. She is also a graduate of the Navy Post Graduate School. Dr. Arti Barnes, MD, MPH, who joined IDPH in 2020 will continue to serve as Chief Medical Officer.

Governor Pritzker’s full remarks congratulating Dr. Ezike, as prepared for delivery, can be found below.

For over three years, Dr. Ngozi Ezike has served as head of the Illinois Department of Public Health. With all her being, she has dedicated each day — and I mean EVERY day — to the agency’s mission to protect the health and wellness of the people in Illinois. For much of the last two years, she’s dedicated each night, too.

Even with this unprecedented internal workload, Dr. Ezike prioritized joining me at more than 160 COVID press conferences, providing not only the latest expertise and data, but also her empathy and compassion – becoming a beacon of stability for millions during a time of tremendous uncertainty. And she has been doing so in both English and Spanish. She has an unshakeable faith in G-d, and she has leaned on her faith to give her the strength to care for the world.

I have watched Dr. Ezike mourn the loss of every one of the 32,000 Illinoisans who have died from COVID-19. This pandemic is a collective trauma that has, for many, numbed their ability to comprehend death on a massive scale. Not Dr. Ezike. No number of sleepless nights and endless days could wear down her commitment to think first and foremost of Illinois’ most vulnerable.

I ran for office. Dr. Ezike did not. But throughout this crisis, she has been beside me every step of the way. I don’t put it lightly when I say she has had one of the hardest jobs in the world. There is something particularly heroic about the service of an extraordinary individual who did not seek greatness but found it anyway.

Dr. Ezike’s last day leading our Department of Public Health will be March 14th. It is a change I am loathe to accept, but perhaps she can finally get a good night’s sleep and precious time with her husband and their four kids. It is well deserved.

I have utmost faith that Dr. Ezike’s next journey will also bring more good to the world – as has been the hallmark of every step of her career. She will go down in the Illinois history books as a woman who changed our state for the better. She saved lives, many thousands of lives.

On that note, I have issued a proclamation declaring today, Tuesday, March 1st, to be Dr. Ezike Day in the State of Illinois. I ask all our residents to take a moment today or any day in the future to thank her for her unprecedented public service in the face of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Ezike has big shoes to fill, and I’m pleased to announce that one of her top deputies –Amaal Tokaars, who has joined us at COVID-19 updates in the past – will be leading IDPH in the interim as we look for a permanent successor. Amaal Tokaars has been an instrumental senior member of Dr. Ezike’s leadership team, and the people of Illinois will be lucky to have her watching out for them.

…Adding… From Dr. Ezike’s remarks…

As all of the speakers have mentioned, we have embarked on a new chapter in our COVID journey and I just want to highlight that, as the mask requirement has been lifted, it does not mean that it’s not recommended.

And as we think about our individual situations, and who may we may be coming around with, who we are living with, it may absolutely be the case that you are an individual, either because of your own risk assessment, or because of those that you live with that you will continue to wear a mask. And so I echo the pleas from Governor Pritzker that we just be respectful of each other’s choices. No one knows, you could be working side by side with someone who is undergoing chemotherapy. Unbeknownst to you, you could be working right behind someone who goes home and takes care of a severely immunocompromised child or parents. We don’t know what people are dealing with it. So let’s respect each other’s choices and equally respect those who have chosen not to wear a mask for whatever their situation is as well.

It has been just an honor to be able to share these updates, share information help create policy. Thinking back, January 2019, I got a call from a blocked number that I answered. And it was at that time that Governor Pritzker offered and I accepted the offer to serve as the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Looking back at notes and journal entries that I had created at that time, I have several quotes that I just jotted down that were from that time. One said, ‘Wow, a dream is coming true for me even before I ever dreamt the dream, but it’s not my reality.’ Another one said ‘I’m so excited to grow and be stretched to new limits.’ I didn’t exactly know the full impact of that [laughs]. Another said, ‘I’m just look forward to doing wonderful things for the residents of Illinois. I’m so ready for this work.’ Again, this is January 2019. I did not know fully what I was getting into. But I had ideals that I believed in that would be my guiding light, my North Star. One is that believing that everyone deserves the opportunity to achieve their best health. A second is that intentionality is required to address long forsaken needs of selected populations. That’s now referred to succinctly as equity. And third that to better care for a diverse population like we are so blessed to have an Illinois you need a team that reflects that diversity to create the most robust and inclusive solutions.

She went on to thank her team at IDPH.

* More…

I acknowledge and mourn with the families of all the lives lost, not just to COVID but to gun violence, to suicide, to drug overdose, to racism to cancer, and all the other diseases and ills that public health officials and all of our partners work tirelessly to curb. Being a half full kind of gal, I am focusing in on all the positive actions of so many private citizens.

* More…

It’s just been my tremendous pleasure to serve the people of Illinois. I am so blessed to have been able to bring some measure of comfort to Illinoisans ,to quiet some of the chaos and infuse some calm. I’m glad that I served as a role model to young girls, girls of color, little black girls, that they can be leaders in any field. And I’m proud to show our young boys as well the future men of our society examples of women in leadership. I’m proud to exemplify that empathy and strength can exist in the same body and in the same breath.

And then she thanked her family.

* Dr. Ezike was asked about her growth as a leader…

I was just speaking at my local high school, at the Model UN conference, and I was talking to about 600 high schoolers on Saturday morning. And I was telling them that leadership is not a destination. It’s a continuous journey. And we are all leaders. You might be a leader in the fact that you’re the firstborn in the family and so you have some kind of responsibility over your siblings. You can be a leader in a classroom where you’re the one that speaks up if you see that someone is being bullied. I have been able to continue to grow leadership skills in all directions. Not perfecting anything yet. I feel like there’s still plenty and plenty of room to grow. My staff can tell you about that struggle. But I think definitely learning the best ways to navigate difficult conversations, understanding how to bring people of different backgrounds with different desires, how to find something that might maybe not satisfy everyone but at least be clear enough in communication to explain why you landed here and have them at least respect the process of your thinking. Being able to make decisions quickly when they need to be versus gathering everybody together and getting all the troops together to get buy-in from many stakeholders, figuring out when and where you use, employ which lever all of those things I am still growing and have been blessed to have the opportunity to really probably grow faster than I would have in another role and another time, but definitely feel that I was called for such a time as this and appreciate all of the growth.

Please pardon all transcription errors.

…Adding… Harmon…

Senate President Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) issued the following statement regarding Dr. Ngozi Ezike’s announcement that she will be stepping down as director of the Illinois Department of Public Health after seeing the agency through the pandemic response.

“Throughout this pandemic, Dr. Ezike has been a calming, compassionate voice offering reassurance and information to the people of Illinois in at least two languages. I want to thank her for her commitment to the public health of this great state and wish her the very best in her next endeavors.”

* Walker…

State Rep. Mark Walker, D-Arlington Heights, issued the following statement today after Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike announced her upcoming retirement from the Department:

“Dr. Ezike has been no less than a beacon of hope and light during one of the greatest challenges Illinois has faced in generations. Her spirit is warm, kind, and full of a love for what she does and for keeping Illinoisans healthy and safe. She has saved lives.

There aren’t enough words to thank Dr. Ezike for her tireless efforts, but she deserves them all. I join Governor Pritzker, my colleagues in the General Assembly, and all Illinoisans in thanking and congratulating Dr. Ezike and wish her and her family all the best in the next chapter of her journey.”

* Stratton…

Lt. Governor Stratton’s Statement on the Departure of Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike

Springfield —In times of uncertainty, we look to people who are knowledgeable, trustworthy, and courageous. Dr. Ngozi Ezike was all of that and more as she worked tirelessly to protect the health of Illinois residents during one of the worst public health crises of our lifetime.

She was a calming figure offering information with empathy and compassion that put the safety of our most vulnerable residents first. Our state could not have asked for a better steward during this pandemic.

As the head of the Illinois Council on Women and Girls, I am especially proud of Dr. Ezike because she is a stellar example of what is possible for women and girls who love science and want to serve the public. Thank you, Dr. Ezike, for all that you have meant to this state at a time when we needed you the most.