The Louisiana Governor's Office has announced via press release that Dr. Rebekah Gee will be resigning as the Louisiana Department of Health Secretary to take another job.

Her effective resignation date is January 31, 2020.

The press release does not mention where Dr. Gee will be working, but the information will be provided at a later date.

Governor John Bel Edwards says he has accepted her resignation.

The Governor had this to say via press release today,

"On my first day in office, I signed an executive order expanding Medicaid and since day one Dr. Gee has been on the front lines of this transformational improvement to health care in Louisiana. Under her leadership, we brought health car to more than 460,000 hard-working adults who now have acceess to the medical services they need to live healthier lives, to fight chronic illness and, in some cases, survive. I am thankful for her partnership on this issue and her life-changing-and saving-work to eliminate Hepatitis C in Louisiana, to fight opioid addiction and to lover the rate of HIV in our state. She is a champion for improved health outcomes for all the people of our state, especially mothers and children. I wish her well in the future."

Governor Edwards says that there are many things that Dr. Gee has done to move the state forward including helping more people transition to Medicaid which brought the amount of people without health insurance to only eight percent, which is the lowest rate ever.

He adds that she was successful in getting the number of people with STD's down, she was able to help more people get access to and be able to afford Hepatitis C medicine which could lead to an elimination of the disease in the state of Louisiana.

Dr Gee expressed the following in the statement:

It has been a tremendous honor to serve the people of Louisiana as the Secretary of Health. I am thankful to Governor Edwards and to the people of our state for trusting me to serve. The policies we advanced will continue to move the needle -- policies that will result in more children growing up healthy, and mothers who can watch them grow, more individuals with disabilities living independently, and more families thriving,” said Dr. Rebekah Gee, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health. “I look forward to remaining in this great state and continuing my work of improving the lives and healthcare of all our residents.

 

 

 

 

 

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