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DOH-Orange Welcomes Kathryn Carpenter as the Department’s new Nursing Director

By Kent Donahue

April 06, 2021

Contact:
Kent Donahue, MPA

kent.donahue@flhealth.gov

 

Orlando, FL – The Florida Department of Health in Orange County (DOH-Orange) welcomes Kathryn Carpenter, MS, BSN, RN, MPH as the new Director of Nursing for the Department. Ms. Carpenter will be responsible for providing oversight and direction to the programs under her umbrella and will be instrumental in enhancing nurse practice agency wide.

Kathryn Carpenter joined the DOH-Orange COVID-19 response team in August 2020 as a contractor with the Center for Disease Control (CDC) Foundation. She is a registered nurse and has a Master’s in Public Health from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Ms. Carpenter brings 30 years of professional experience in public health, nursing, and project management to our team. She started full-time with DOH-Orange this February as an epidemiologist with the Department’s Epidemiology Program, and was the team lead supporting the COVID response effort for Long-Term Care Facilities providing technical guidance in infection prevention, disease surveillance and testing, and vaccine access. 

Prior to moving to Florida, Ms. Carpenter worked in the Marshall Islands managing the public health department at the U.S. Army Garrison on Kwajalein Atoll; in Wisconsin for Public Health Madison and Dane County as a public health nurse in the TB and food-borne illness programs; the State of Wisconsin’s Bureau of Communicable Disease in the food-borne illness surveillance program; and as an inpatient medical/surgical nurse at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics. 

Before starting her career in health care, she spent 20 years as an environmental consultant in the Pacific Northwest working on hazardous waste site investigations and cleanup for both private and government clients. She has a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and a master’s degree in Water Resources Management from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Ms. Carpenter has a certificate in Business Administration from the University of Washington in Seattle. She also spent more than two years in Afghanistan supporting the U.S. Agency for International Development on water resources development projects as a program manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Kathryn now lives in Orlando. She enjoys baking, gardening, and SCUBA diving, and wants to fulfill a life-long dream of learning how to surf, if she can find any spare time.

About the Florida Department of Health
The department, nationally accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board, worksto protect, promote and improve the health of all people in Florida through integratedstate, county and community efforts.

Follow us on Twitter at @HealthyFla and on Facebook. For more information about theFlorida Department of Health please visit www.FloridaHealth.gov.

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