Nearly 14 months after beginning what was billed as a national search for a new head of aging services and programs in Allegheny County, county officials have chosen the person who has been filling the role on an interim basis all that time.
Kurt Emmerling, who has held a variety of administrative positions for the county’s Area Agency on Aging, has been named the deputy director overseeing that agency for the Department of Human Services, DHS Director Marc Cherna announced in an email to his staff Monday.
Mr. Emmerling succeeds Mildred Morrison, who was in charge of aging programs for 17 years and left in May 2017 to accept a position with the YWCA Retirement Fund in New York City. The AAA has about 200 employees involved in programs providing about 43,000 individuals ages 60 and older with services of some kind, primarily through state and federal funding.
Mr. Emmerling, who has been interim deputy director since she left, will receive a salary of $103,642. He was previously manager within the agency of its Older Adult Protective Services Program, its Ombudsman Program and the Options Care Management Program. Before being hired by the county in 2002, he held positions with Mercy Behavioral Health.
“His background in health care and knowledge of DHS make him a solid leader to shepherd the AAA as it increases its role within managed care and as it continues to integrate its services with our other areas within DHS,” Mr. Cherna wrote.
Gary Rotstein: grotstein@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1255.
First Published: June 25, 2018, 6:08 p.m.