The town this week hired a longtime municipal professional in Fairfield County as New Canaan’s health director.
Amy Lehaney has worked since 2022 as Monroe’s health director, and had worked for Bridgeport, Stamford, Fairfield and Redding before that, according to her resume.
“We are very lucky to have had her apply and I think she’ll be a great asset to the town,” New Canaan Human Resources Director Cheryl Pickering Jones told members of the Board of Selectmen at their regular meeting, held Tuesday at Town Hall and via videoconference.
First Selectman Dionna Carlson and Selectman Steve Karl voted 2-0 in favor of the hire. Selectman Amy Murphy Carroll was absent.
The town had 22 applicants put in for the position since the resignation of Jenn Eielson last month, and interviewed three of those, according to Pickering Jones.
Lehaney earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from Saint Bonaventure University in Olean, N.Y. and a master’s in public health from Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven. She is a registered sanitarian, food service inspector and lead risk assessor/inspector, and is also phase I and II subsurface sewage system-certified, according to her resume.
A Trumbull resident, Lehaney will start in her new position June 9, Pickering Jones said.
Carlson said she sat in on the health director interviews and noted that Lehaney is familiar with OpenGov, the online software system that New Canaan switched over to in late-2023 for permitting and other tasks.
“I think it’ll be an easy transition bringing her in,” Carlson said, adding, “She’ll be a great asset.”
Pickering Jones and the Board thanked Geno Gagnon, the town’s registered sanitarian, for serving as interim health director for the past few weeks. They also thanked the Health Department for its good work during the transition period.
“We are very fortunate that he [Gagnon] has stepped in and really bridged the gap,” Carlson said.