Shelly (Mary) Schechter, Director of Maternal Child Health Services, Nassau County Health Department

Shelly (Mary) Schechter

  • 35 years of service

Shelly (Mary) Schechter began her career at the Nassau County Department of Health in 1973 as a Public Health Nurse in the Office of Home Care. After pursuing a Masters of Science in Nursing and Board Certification as a Clinical Care Specialist, she was appointed Director of Emergency Medical Services Bureau in the late 1980's. There, she developed and refined her management and leadership skills, networking with other agencies to significantly improve coordination of a County Advanced Life Support EMS system. She also became the Department's liaison to the Nassau County Police Department's Emergency Management Office. She was then promoted to Deputy Director of the Division of Community & Maternal Child Health Services, and experience success in overseeing the Women Infant and Children program.

After September 11th, Shelly became the Director of the emerging Bioterrorism program. Her vision for emergency planning, mass medication distribution and the pilot volunteer MRC program won accolades at the National and State level and was the basis for many of the plans we have in place today. Shelly's greatest strength is her ability to identify and nurture talent and creativity. Her management style has enabled her to mentor staff who subsequently became successful supervisors and Program Directors in our agency.

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