West Cook News

Dr. Ngozi Ezike will no longer be head of the Illinois Department of Public Health after March 14.

Ezike is a member of the LaGrange Highlands School District 106 whose children were subjected to the rules throughout her tenure.

That board was one of the early ones that voted to make masks optional back in late January, before Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s mask mandate was overruled as unconstitutional.  

While the statewide indoor mask mandate fell off on Feb. 28, the resentment, particularly from the measures mandated by Ezike and Pritzker, appears to be rolling into the campaign season for governor and General Assembly.

Ezike’s announcement comes in the wake of a Senate confirmation hearing she missed due to a "scheduling conflict."

State Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia), a GOP gubernatorial hopeful, encouraged Illinoisans to contact their representatives to encourage a "no" vote.

“We’re encouraging everyone to contact their Senator to vote against her nomination," Bailey said in a statement to SE Illinois News. "I have stood against Pritzker’s unilateral and tyrannical mandates since the beginning. It’s time to end JB’s mandates and restore freedom and common sense to Illinois."

Over the course of the pandemic, Ezike has been a divisive character.

Illinois has taken one of the more drastic approaches to COVID mandates under Ezike's leadership.

In their waning days, Ezike’s protocols faced stiff opposition by Illinois residents who grew increasingly tired of masking and vaccine mandates that haven proven ineffective to the spread of COVID.

Prior to her three-year term, Ezike was in health care management. It is is unclear what her next steps are.

Illinois took one of the more drastic approaches to hide mandates under Ezike's leadership.

When it comes to ongoing COVID treatments, many critics have remarked that the state's top doctor appears to be receiving medical counsel from Pritzker rather than delivering her own well-reasoned medical advice.