The doctor facing involuntary manslaughter and other charges related to the Flint water crisis has been awarded the highest individual award given by local health departments in Michigan.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced that Dr. Eden Wells, chief medical executive for the state, received the Michigan Association for Local Public Health and Michigan Public Health Association's Roy R. Manty Distinguished Service Award.

The award is described by the awarding organizations as the highest individual honor given by the local public health community.

It was created to honor the late Roy R. Manty, who served the last 15 years of his life in the field of local health administration within the Michigan Department of Public Health.

Wells, 55, is waiting for a Genesee District Court judge to decide whether she will be bound over for a jury trial in Genesee Circuit Court on the criminal charges against her.

Judge William Crawford has yet to schedule a date to announce his decision on charges of involuntary manslaughter, willful neglect of duty, misconduct in office and lying to a peace officer.

Prosecutors claim Wells showed gross negligence in her role as the state's top doctor, allowing the death of John Snyder, who prosecutors say is one of at least 12 individuals who died because of Legionnaires' disease outbreaks during the Flint water crisis.

Wells has a responsibility to protect the health and welfare of state residents, but attempted to withhold funding for programs designed to help the victims of the water crisis, and lied to an investigator about material facts related to the investigation by the state Attorney General's Office, according to the charges.

Her supporters say Wells is a hero of the water crisis and was wrongly charged by the attorney general.

She and DHHS Director Nick Lyon have been left on the job -- despite the criminal charges each faces -- by Gov. Rick Snyder. Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha has credited Wells for her support after the pediatrician's study revealed a rising percentage of Flint children with elevated blood lead levels while the Flint River was used for drinking water.

In the DHHS news release announcing the Manty award, Dr. Annettee Mercatante, president of MALPH, says Wells has consistently provided "timely (usually immediate), intelligent, expert, reliable, and compassionate support for the entire array of expected and unexpected community health issues that arise daily in our state."