DHEC picks health chief over two out-of-state candidates as COVID response continues
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control is making its interim health director the permanent chief of the division as the agency continues to deal with the coronavirus and the COVID-19 vaccine roll out.
Greenville native Brannon Traxler, a doctor who was put temporarily in charge of the health division last fall, was the best choice among candidates for the permanent director’s job, according to a DHEC news release Thursday. As director, Traxler becomes the top official focused on public health, reporting to DHEC director Edward Simmer, who is in charge of both the health and environmental divisions.
“DHEC was fortunate to attract great candidates for this critical position and I sincerely appreciate their interest in serving the people of South Carolina,” Simmer said in the news release. “I am pleased to offer the position of public health director to Dr. Brannon Traxler. She has done a terrific job in the interim role and I am confident that she will continue to do great things for her fellow South Carolinians.”
Traxler, 39, was chosen over two other finalists for the post: Paul Jung, director of the division of medicine and dentistry at the Health Resources and Service Administration, a federal department in the Washington, D.C.-area; and Henry Kurban, who recently served as West Virginia University Medicine’s chief medical officer, according to resumes released by DHEC.
Traxler’s salary will be $200,000, about $30,000 less than previous health director Joan Duwve, DHEC spokeswoman Cristi Moore said.
Traxler has been heavily involved in the agency’s COVID-19 response, first as DHEC’s chief medical officer before becoming the interim health division chief last fall. She succeeds Duwve, who quit the health director’s post in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic after about six months on the job last year.
The department’s coronavirus response has been a point of contention. At one point, the agency had no permanent agency head or permanent health division chief. DHEC has been criticized for what some considered a sluggish response to the pandemic, which hit the state in March 2020. Others say the agency has done its best to educate the public about the dangers.
When Traxler was chosen as interim health director, some questioned whether state epidemiologist Linda Bell should have been offered the position.
Like Bell, Traxler has been among the most visible DHEC officials during the pandemic. She’s been a regular at news conferences and media briefings as well as sessions with state and federal lawmakers to discuss South Carolina’s response.
The agency is in the midst of trying to get people vaccinated, a situation that has been complicated by the halt this week on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
State Sen. Dick Harpootlian, one of DHEC’s harshest critics, said Traxler’s role in the state’s coronavirus response doesn’t give him confidence. The Columbia Democrat remains critical of DHEC’s efforts to deal with coronavirus, saying the agency has not been aggressive enough.
Reached by The State, Traxler declined Thursday to say what she thinks are the most important issues facing DHEC’s health division, saying that should be discussed in detail when she has more time.
Traxler has a medical degree from the University of South Carolina and an undergraduate degree in microbiology from Clemson University. She attended high school at Christ Church Episcopal in Greenville.
She was hired at DHEC in 2018 after a stint in private practice as a surgeon. In Traxler’s application for the health chief job, she said she left private practice after becoming “increasingly dissatisfied’’ and depressed because the job did not suit her strengths.
Traxler went back to school, receiving a master’s degree in public health from George Washington University.
“I determined my goals were more focused on public health, which had always interested me,’’ she wrote in the application. “I wanted to make more of an impact on communities, to improve its health status and care, than I felt I was doing as a private practice surgeon.’’
Before getting into public health, she volunteered for medical missions in Honduras and Tanzania, her job application shows.
The candidates Traxler was chosen over both have extensive health care experience.
Jung’s job application shows that, in addition to his job at the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, he has worked in executive-level positions with the Indian Health Service, the Peace Corps, the office of the Surgeon General and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. An attempt to reach him Thursday was unsuccessful.
Kurban’s application shows he has worked in high-level health positions with Bassett Health Care, Dutchess County, N.Y., the Florida Department of Health, the Virginia Department of Health, and Thunder Bay, Canada. In his job in West Virginia, Kurban was an incident commander for the COVID-19 response, his application said. An attempt to reach him Thursday was unsuccessful.
Traxler becomes Simmer’s first major hire since he replaced Rick Toomey as director early this year.
“As a lifelong South Carolinian, I am dedicated to DHEC’s mission to promote and protect the health of the people and environment of our great state, and it is an honor to be selected to work alongside our amazing DHEC team as we work together to improve the lives of all those who live, work and play in our state,” Traxler said in the news release.
This story has been updated
This story was originally published April 15, 2021 at 10:02 AM.
