About our Health Officer

Natalie D. McKellips, JD

Administrator

Florida Department of Health in Gilchrist County

Natalie McKellips was appointed as the Administrator for the Dixie, Levy, and Gilchrist County Health Departments in November 2020. She has worked for the Florida Department of Health for the past 12 years serving as Chief Legal Counsel for the North Central Florida Consortium of health departments which includes the Alachua, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Marion, Suwannee and Union County Health Departments. In this role she advised Health Officers and staff on the wide range of public health issues and topics that arise in the daily operation of the health departments.

A native of North Central Florida, Ms. McKellips graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1990. She earned her Juris Doctor degree from Florida State in 1994 and was licensed to practice law that same year. She began her career in the health care field as an attorney for the State of Florida’s health care boards where she prosecuted disciplinary cases against licensed medical professionals. She then moved to the Florida Engineers Management Corporation (FEMC), where she served as both the Prosecuting Attorney and later as the Executive Director for the Florida Board of Professional Engineers. FEMC, a small, not-for-profit corporation, was created by the Legislature in 1997 to operate the Board office for the Florida Board of Professional Engineers which, at the time, licensed and regulated over 26,000 professional engineers in the state. As a member of FEMC’s inaugural staff, Ms. McKellips helped build the corporation into a successful public-private partnership and a model for other state regulatory boards.

Ms. McKellips was a volunteer mediator in County Court for many years, assisting parties in the resolution of small claims cases. She also served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Florida College of Law, where she taught courses focusing on the crucial skills of interviewing, counseling, negotiation and mediation. Ms. McKellips is a member of the National Association of County and City Health Officials and is enrolled in the Department of Health’s Public Health Executive Leadership Program.

Ms. McKellips is very pleased to be able to continue her public health service in Dixie, Levy, and Gilchrist counties as their Administrator. She looks forward to using her skills in communication, collaboration, and problem-solving to build meaningful and lasting partnerships that protect, promote, and improve the health of the citizens of Dixie, Levy, and Gilchrist counties.