CARROLLTON — The Greene County Health Department is proud to announce that Molly Peters, their Public Health Administrator, has been appointed by Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) Director Sameer Vohra MD, JD, MA as Co-Chair of the SHA/SHIP Partnership—the statewide team guiding the development and implementation of Illinois’s five-year statewide public health blueprint under the “Healthy Illinois 2028” initiative.
In her role, Ms. Peters will help steer the processes of the State Health Assessment (SHA) and the State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP) — a dual approach mandated by Illinois law under 20 ILCS 5/5-565.
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“This appointment underscores the vital role that local public health practitioners play in shaping statewide strategies and ensuring that community-level realities are reflected in statewide objectives,” said Ms. Peters.
Why this appointment matters
- The SHA is a systematic assessment of the health of Illinois residents: collecting and analyzing data to inform community mobilization, priority-setting, resource alignment, and action planning.
- The SHIP is the resulting five-year action plan that builds on the SHA findings and sets goals, objectives, and strategies to improve health outcomes and advance health equity statewide.
- “Healthy Illinois 2028” emphasizes a unified public health system, community engagement, a strong workforce, sustainable and flexible local-level funding, and addressing social and structural determinants of health.
- The SHA/SHIP Partnership serves as the collaborative vehicle for aligning public and private sector entities across the state, with input from local health departments, community organizations, academia, and other stakeholders.
- With this appointment, Ms. Peters brings the voice of rural local health departments—particularly from underserved regions—to shape statewide policy and action, strengthening the feedback loop between the local and state levels.
Ms. Peters brings more than 17 years of public health experience to the role. Her career began as a Health Educator at the Madison County Health Department, where she focused on health promotion. As funding priorities shifted, she transitioned into environmental health, first as an Inspector, then as a Sanitarian, and ultimately as an Environmental Health Coordinator.
In April 2019, drawn by her strong ties to rural communities (her husband is from Carrollton, and the family owned a local farm), she applied for and accepted the role of Public Health Administrator of the Greene County Health Department, beginning in February 2020. Just weeks into her tenure, she managed the onset and outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under her leadership, the department was recognized by the Illinois Governor’s Office for outstanding efforts and an efficient vaccination rollout. She began an additional role as the administrator for the Scott County Health Department in March 2022, serving as administrator at both health departments since then.
Ms. Peters currently holds leadership roles across state public health organizations, serving as President of the Illinois Association of Public Health Administrators, Vice President of the Illinois Environmental Health Association's Southern Chapter, and Treasurer of Home Care Across Illinois. Most recently, she completed a Fellowship with the Public Health Institute, University of Illinois, Chicago.
With this appointment, local health departments like Greene & Scott Counties gain a seat at the table in statewide strategy-setting. Ms. Peters’s input will help ensure that the core public health functions—assessment, policy development, and assurance- are grounded in the lived realities of local health systems and communities. The statewide SHA/SHIP framework likewise depends on the effective participation of local public health agencies to implement meaningful change.
As President of the Illinois Association of Public Health Administrators, Ms. Peters led local health administrators statewide engaged in building a stronger, more connected Illinois public health system—advocating for sustainable funding, core public health infrastructure, partnerships, and workforce development.
Her philosophy is grounded in the basics of public health: to assess community health, develop policies to address identified needs, and assurance of community public health resources. With her leadership in both local and state arenas, Ms. Peters is well-positioned to help translate statewide strategies into local action.
In her Co-Chair role, Ms. Peters, along with Assistant Director Janice Philips, will collaborate with the SHA/SHIP Partnership and IDPH to guide community engagement, data review, and identification of statewide health priorities and cross-cutting themes such as access to care, built environment, public health system infrastructure, and structural determinants of health.
Greene & Scott County Health Departments welcome this appointment as a positive step toward greater integration between local and state public health efforts—and reaffirm their commitment to advancing health equity, strengthening the workforce, and sustaining high-impact public health services in rural Illinois.
