Milwaukee, WI – Today, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and the Medical College of Wisconsin announced Dr. Benjamin Weston as the new Chief Health Policy Advisor (CHPA) for Milwaukee County.

“I’m happy to announce Dr. Ben Weston as Milwaukee County’s inaugural Chief Health Policy Advisor. Over the past year, Dr. Weston has done an outstanding job advising the County’s immediate response to the COVID-19 pandemic, interpreting the data available, and making recommendations to keep residents safe and administer life-saving vaccines,” said County Executive David Crowley. “As Chief Health Policy Advisor, Dr. Weston will serve as a subject matter expert on public health, health equity, and social determinants of health. His expertise will help inform strategies and programs that further advance our health and equity goals and bring us closer to our vision of being the healthiest county in the state.”

Dr. Weston is an Associate Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He will continue to serve as Director of Medical Services for the Milwaukee County Office of Emergency Management (OEM), overseeing Emergency Medical Services in the fourteen fire departments throughout the county.

While serving as the Medical Director for the Milwaukee County/City/Municipality COVID-19 Emergency Operations Center, Dr. Weston and his team created the Milwaukee County COVID-19 Dashboard which became the center of Milwaukee County’s decision-making related to the pandemic. The dashboard compiles data from various institutions and levels of government to provide a holistic picture of the pandemic’s impact on Milwaukee County. Dr. Weston developed the Strategic Allocation of Fundamental Epidemic Resources (SAFER) Model to better understand the community burden of disease and channel testing infrastructure and resources, as well as the Evaluating Vulnerability and Equity (EVE) Model to inform vaccination strategy by targeting the most vulnerable members of our community.

Dr. Weston has both a medical degree and a master’s in public health and is dual boarded in emergency medicine and emergency medical services. He has most recently been named a Public Health Leader of the Year as part of Milwaukee Business Journal’s Health Care Champions Awards, which celebrate preeminent leaders in health care around southeastern Wisconsin.

Dr. Weston’s tenure as CHPA began on August 1st. In this role he will advise the Office of the County Executive on health impacts of policies, procedures, and infrastructure; development of measures and outcomes related to population health; and opportunities for partnership and collaboration with external stakeholders to advance the strategic plan. The CHPA position will report directly to the County Executive.

“I look forward to building upon our collective goal to improve the health of the residents of Milwaukee County. While the pandemic has laid bare the health inequities that exist in our community, it has also provided an opportunity to strengthen our partnerships and collaborative efforts to address the medical and public health needs of our community.”