Dr. Allison Arwady seems on “Chicago Tonight” on March 20, 2023. (WTTW News)

Mayor Brandon Johnson has fired Dr. Allison Arwady as commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health.

Arwady was knowledgeable of the choice shortly after 5 p.m. Friday, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

The transfer got here a day after the Chicago Board of Health voted to send a letter to Johnson asking him to maintain Arwady in her submit, the Chicago Tribune reported.

In a statement posted on X, the social media web site previously generally known as Twitter, Arwady stated public well being stays her ardour and that her high precedence has all the time been to guard the well being of all Chicagoans.

“It has been the best chapter of my life (so far!) leading the CDPH team, especially through the COVID pandemic, when public health was needed more than ever. Public health must always be driven by science and medicine, and never politics,” Arwady wrote. “It is critical that this work receives the funding needed to remain strong, and that the next CDPH Commissioner shares this department’s commitment to health equity.”

Arwady stated she has each confidence within the CDPH staff and “was especially disappointed not to get a chance to say goodbye.”

Johnson throughout his marketing campaign for mayor vowed to fireplace Arwady, who was appointed by his predecessor, former Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Arwady was the general public face of Chicago’s response all through the COVID-19 pandemic in addition to the outbreak of monkeypox. At the peak of the pandemic, Arwady hosted on-line question-and-answer classes twice per week and incessantly briefed the information media alongside Lightfoot.

Arwady in 2019 noticed her affirmation as commissioner delayed by a number of months after she absolutely backed Lightfoot’s determination to not reopen town’s publicly run psychological well being clinics closed by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Johnson advised WTTW News he’s dedicated to reopening these clinics.

Lightfoot in a statement Friday known as Arwady “a hero.”

“We all owe a debt to her unflagging commitment to data, science and keeping us all safe through one of the worst pandemics that the world has ever seen,” Lightfoot wrote.

Prior to her time at CDPH, Arwady labored as an epidemic intelligence service officer for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the place she targeted on outbreak response, together with worldwide work on Ebola and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. While primarily based on the Illinois Department of Public Health, she responded to illness outbreaks throughout the state. 

Arwady earned a bachelor’s diploma from Harvard University and grasp’s diploma in public well being from Columbia University. She accomplished medical college and scientific coaching at Yale University. Arwady is a board-certified inner drugs doctor and pediatrician.

Heather Cherone and Kristen Thometz contributed to this report.