Cape County commissioners appoint new member to county health board

Cape Girardeau County commissioners on Monday appointed Dr. Philip Taylor to the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center Board of Trustees.

Taylor -- who practiced in Cape Girardeau for 36 years, specializing in internal medicine and rheumatology -- fills a vacancy on the board left by Roland "Rollie" Sander, who died in February.

Taylor will fill the role until April 2022 where a special election will be held to determine who will serve the remainder of Sander's term through April 2023.

Sarah Yenesel ~ Southeast Missourian

Taylor, a Dexter, Missouri, native, attended the University of Missouri for his undergraduate degree, and Harvard Medical School for his post-graduate studies.

Taylor moved to Cape Girardeau in 1980 and practiced at an independent office in Doctors' Park before working at Saint Francis Medical Center for approximately 10 years until his retirement in 2017.

"We had four applications, and we want to thank all four for applying. I see that, out of the four, we have one that is a medical doctor," First District Associate Commissioner Paul Koeper said during Monday's meeting. "I spoke to Dr. Taylor last week and he said, 'I'm retired, and I'd be willing to serve on the board.' I can't think of a more appropriate person than a medical doctor to be on the county health board."

Taylor had high praise for the Board of Trustees' performance last year in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I was very pleased with the board's performance last year with the COVID epidemic. Pleased and proud," Taylor said. "I thought they made exactly the right decisions. They based their decisions on scientific information that was available at the time. I agreed completely with their mask mandate, both when they started and stopped it, and I wanted to be supportive of that kind of decision making in the future."

In other business Monday, commissioners:

• Approved a bid to advertise for a tax lien search for the 2021 land tax sale.
• Approved purchase orders for series 2018 and 2020 certificates of participation bond interest payments.