Photo Provided Newly named Health Commissioner of Belmont County Robert Sproul on left, and former Health Commissioner of Belmont County and current Medical Director of the Belmont County Health Department Dr. Renato Dela Cruz celebrate Sproul’s new position.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — After serving as Belmont County’s Deputy Health Commissioner, Robert Sproul is moving up. He was recently named the county’s head health commissioner.

Sproul will now assume full responsibility for leading the department’s administrative operations, public health programs, environmental health initiatives, and compliance with state and local health regulations.

Sproul is replacing Dr. Renato Dela Cruz who previously served as the county’s health commissioner. Dela Cruz will now serve as Medical Director of the Belmont County Health Department.

Dela Cruz will provide medical oversight, clinical guidance, and expert consultation on public health matters, including communicable disease control, health policy, and community health planning in his new role.

The Board of Health approved these appointments during its August meeting.

Sproul said that, with the new title, he will have more authority than as a deputy health commissioner. That will allow him to sign documents in house instead of having Dela Cruz come to the office specifically any time a document needs to be signed.

Sproul said that Dela Cruz expressed interest in wanting to step down as health commissioner, but in order for Sproul to take over the position, he would have to earn a master’s degree. He now holds a master’s degree in public administration from American Public University.

“I’m just trying to do what I can to help improve the health of Belmont County and move Belmont County forward,” Sproul said. “I grew up in Belmont County and want to see Belmont County succeed.”

He added that he’s most looking forward to the completion of the health department location that will also host the Belmont County Coroner’s Office and the Belmont County Recorder’s Office.

“We’re limited on our space right now and with the new building, we’re going to have a conference room area where we can bring in speakers and have events there,” Sproul said. “We’ll be able to have more things for the community to be more active with the community about health.”

He added that the limited space has been a hindrance in terms of having the community be able to come into the office.

“We don’t have enough space for the people that we have, let alone to do anything more for the community. So again, that’s going to be nice there,” Sproul said.

He added that although space is tight, the health department has recently partnered with Labcorp to do lab work inside the health department.

Labcorp has nearly 100 labs in dozens of countries where residents can go to get their lab work done at, instead of going to a hospital.

“We ask people to call to make an appointment because, again, we have a very small space,” Sproul said. “We have five parking spots in front of our building so we don’t want anyone having to wait longer than they have to.”

Appointments can be made from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.