Gary Edwards, MS
Executive Director
Gary Edwards has worked in public health for over 35 years; his career began at the Southwest Utah Public Health Department, and includes 11 years with the Utah Department of Health in the Bureau of Health Promotion, directing the bureau for three years. Prior to joining the Salt Lake County Health Department as executive director in 2005, Edwards was director of the Southwest Utah Public Health Department for 12 years.
During his career, Mr. Edwards has been involved in investigating and managing cases and outbreaks of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, measles, plague, pertussis, cryptosporidiosis, novel H1N1 influenza, and other communicable diseases. He has been actively involved in efforts to prevent and control tobacco
use in Utah, responsible for some of the initial work in the nation addressing smokeless tobacco. His work has also included investigating suspected anthrax exposure sites and evaluating the potential public health impacts of large hog operations. He has served on numerous state and national
boards and committees.
In addition to his work in public health, Edwards has taught as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Utah, Southern Utah University, and Ball State University. He was the Parowan (Utah) High School cross country coach for seven years, where his teams won five regional titles, one state championship, and one second-place state finish. Edwards claims to have learned life’s greatest lessons in the 10 years he spent refereeing high school basketball. He was also appointed to complete a term on the Parowan City Council.
Edwards received his undergraduate degree in health education from Utah State University and a Master of Science degree in health science from Western Illinois University. He has completed advanced leadership training with the Regional Institute for Health and Environmental Leadership (RIHEL), as well as the Homeland Security Executive Leadership Program (ELP) at the Naval Postgraduate School.
Dorothy Adams, MPA, LEHS
Deputy Director and
Director, Administration
Dorothy Adams has been with the Salt Lake County Health Department for 27 years. In 1989, she began Utah’s first household hazardous waste program by holding small, one-day collection events; the program now consists of two permanent facilities and multiple community collection events around the valley.
Before becoming director of administration for SLCoHD, Ms. Adams worked as a program manager in water quality and hazardous waste for the department’s environmental health division. As director of administrative services, she oversees the department's finance, human resources, contracting, and facilities maintenance programs.
A native of Rhode Island, Adams holds a degree in resource economics from the University of New Hampshire as well as a Master of Public Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dorothy is also licensed in Utah as an environmental health scientist, and she serves on the Summit County Board of Health.
Dagmar Vitek, MD, MPH
Deputy Director and
Director, Medical Division
Dr. Dagmar J. Vitek has been with the Salt Lake County Health Department since 1990, serving as medical officer since 2001. Prior to joining SLCoHD, she was medical director for Intermountain Health Care’s Kearns Community Clinic.
A native of the Czech Republic, Dr. Vitek received her MD from the J.E. Purkyně University College of Medicine with the highest honors. She entered radiology residency but left the Communist system and came to the United States in 1983, becoming a research fellow at the University of Utah, where she authored a number of articles in internationally recognized journals. In 1985, Vitek became licensed to practice medicine in Utah and worked in internal medicine at LDS Hospital and in radiology at the University of Utah. She received her Master of Public Health from the University of Utah.
Before serving as SLCoHD’s medical director, Vitek was the department’s associate director of family health services and director of occupational health and travel clinics. Vitek is a member of a number of state and national organizations, including the Utah Public Health Association, Utah Medical Association, American Public Health Association, and American Medical Association,
Royal DeLegge, PhD, LEHS, RS
Director, Environmental Health
Dr. Royal P. DeLegge has been the Salt Lake County Health Department director of environmental health since August 1999. He came to the department from the Winnebago County Health Department in Rockford, Illinois, where he was also director of environmental health. He had previously held various positions at the DuPage County Health Department in the Chicago metropolitan area; in total, DeLegge has worked in public health for more than 30 years.
Dr. DeLegge holds a BS in biology from Illinois State University, an MPA from Northern Illinois University, and a Ph.D. in public policy and administration from Walden University. He is a licensed environmental health scientist (LEHS) in Utah and a registered sanitarian (RS) by the National Environmental Health Association.
Beverly Hyatt Neville, PhD, MSPH
Director, Community Health
Dr. Beverly Hyatt Neville is a registered dietitian nutritionist with an MS in Public Health and a PhD in Health Education. She has worked for the Salt Lake County Health Department for 26 years in several capacities, including as a WIC supervisor, clinic manager, and, for the 15 years prior to becoming director of community health, as a health promotion bureau manager.
A past president of UPHA and of the Utah Nutrition Council, Dr. Hyatt Neville teaches nutrition and public health courses at local and online universities. She has worked on humanitarian projects in Utah, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic and has done nutrition research on all seven continents. She recently authored a book on healthy eating for consumers titled The Five Hungers.
Audrey Stevenson, PhD, MPH, MSN, FNP-BC
Director, Family Health
Dr. Audrey Stevenson is a family nurse practitioner with more than 30 years of clinical and public health experience. Dr. Stevenson, who holds Master of Public Health and Master of Nursing degrees, received her Doctorate in Public Health from the University of Utah. She has worked in public health for the past 25 years.
Dr. Stevenson has been director of family health for SLCoHD since 2001; during her career, she worked at several clinic locations and in a variety of programs, including family planning, well-child clinics, STD clinics, CCMAC prenatal, and pediatrics. In 2010 she received the American Nurses Association (ANA) Immunity Award as a result of her efforts to promote the Tdap vaccine at public health clinics, and in 2011, she was involved in a successful legislative effort that allowed teen mothers to consent to their own vaccination.