Updates About People

Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced last week that the state’s Director of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), Elizabeth Hertel, will be stepping down at the end of June.

Elizabeth Hertel has served as the top MDHHS official since 2021. She oversaw the department’s transition out of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the development of two state psychiatric hospitals, expansion of substance use disorder programs, and the state’s response to recent federal Medicaid and SNAP changes. One of her major priorities has been restructuring Michigan’s behavioral health system, including efforts to rebid the state’s prepaid inpatient health plans, though implementation of those changes has been delayed following court rulings.

Her successor, Amy Epkey, will begin the role on July 1. Epkey is currently the senior deputy director of the financial operation administration within MDHHS. Hertel said that she plans on relaxing post-budget and spending time with family during the summer months before figuring out what comes next in her career.

The U.S. Department of Justice, the Michigan Department of Attorney General, and the City of Romulus have filed a joint status update that formalizes the federal government’s decision to abandon plans to convert a Romulus warehouse into an ICE detention center. The agreement is to instead sell the property and adjourn the scheduled July 1 court conference and submit another status update to the court by July 17. Attorney General Dana Nessel issued a statement praising the agreement to abandon plans for the immigration detention center.

The overdose rate among Michigan residents has now been declining for four consecutive years. A recent press release from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) shows that in 2025 there were less than 1,800 reported overdose deaths, a decrease from 3,096 reported overdose deaths in 2021, leading to a 47% decline in the overdose death rate per 100,000 citizens.

MDHHS Director Elizabeth Hertel credited Michigan’s declining overdose death rate to continued investments in prevention, treatment, recovery, and harm reduction efforts. The department also highlighted the work of the Michigan Opioids Task Force, established in 2019. The press release reported that more than 1.8 million naloxone kits have been distributed statewide since 2020, leading to nearly 34,000 reported overdose reversals.

The department noted efforts are still needed to address how urban counties and black residents are continuing to experience disproportionately high overdose death rates.

Michigan is set to receive nearly $2 billion dollars over the next 14 years to continue efforts as part of national opioid settlements.