Dr. Dean Burke appointed to head state health agency
On Monday Governor Brian Kemp named Seminole County native Dr. Dean Burke Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH).
Georgia’s Department of Community Health is a state agency tasked with regulating health care facilities across the state and overseeing programs like Medicaid, PeachCare and the State Health Benefit Plan.
Burke, a doctor and former State Senator who currently serves as the state agency’s chief medical officer, will take over as commissioner in August. The current commissioner, Russel Carlson, is leaving the department to take a job in the private sector, according to a press release from
Governor Kemp’s office.
Prior to joining the agency, Burke was an OB-GYN for 27 years and later became the chief medical officer at Memorial Hospital and Manor in Bainbridge. He was first elected to the State Senate in 2012, and successfully passed a number of health care bills aimed at improving Georgia’s maternal health outcomes, including Senate Bill 273, which created the state’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee, and Senate Bill 496, which mandates that autopsies be performed after all maternal deaths. He also authored Senate Bill 338, which doubled the amount of time Georgians could stay on Medicaid after giving birth, giving postpartum mothers and their babies access to a full year of health insurance coverage.
“Given his extensive background in medicine and healthcare policy, he is uniquely qualified to fill this role at a pivotal time for this important agency,” Kemp said in a statement announcing the appointment. “I’m confident he will demonstrate the same level of commitment as commissioner that he has shown throughout his many years of public service.”
Burke commented, “I want to thank Governor Kemp for having the confidence in me to continue my efforts to improve the healthcare delivery system in Georgia and especially in rural Georgia.
I also want to thank my late parents, my siblings and my wife, kids and grandkids for their support during my many hours of study, night call and my time away from home during my Senate years and my current role.
I also want to give my appreciation to my teachers and administrators at Seminole County Schools who prepared me for my journey. And to Drs. CO Walker, Bob Starling, Charles Stewart, and Homer Breckenridge Jr who allowed me to shadow them and work in their office when I showed an interest in small town medicine many years ago.”
