Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf Names Alison Beam, Dr. Wendy Braund As Replacements For Departing Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine
HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS/AP) — Gov. Tom Wolf on Friday said he would elevate two officials involved in his administration's response to the coronavirus to replace the departing Dr. Rachel Levine as his health secretary and physician general. Wolf said he intends to nominate a deputy chief of staff, Alison Beam, to take over as secretary of the Department of Health.
"Alison Beam is a talented public servant who brings years of experience in health care policy and implementation to this position," said Gov. Wolf. "Alison knows that a strong, widely available, and successful vaccination strategy is the path out of the pains of this pandemic. Her foremost and immediate focus will be on the strategic distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine."
Wolf, meanwhile, elevated Dr. Wendy Braund, the Covid-19 response director for the department, to acting interim physician general.
"Wendy brings years of public health expertise and a commitment to improving public health practice in Pennsylvania to the role of Interim Acting Physician General," Wolf said.
Beam has coordinated programming across several agencies, including the departments of Health and Human Services, and has helped coordinate the administration's pandemic response.
Braund, who taught health policy and management at the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public Health, also served in senior positions in Wyoming's state government and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Levine's last day was to be Friday as she prepares to become President Joe Biden's nominee to be his assistant secretary of health.
The transition comes at a critical time in the statewide response to the pandemic, with the state reporting hundreds of deaths per day and officials trying to ramp up statewide distribution of the two vaccines.
(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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