S.C. Senate confirms DHEC director

Listen to this article

The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control officially has a new director.

The S.C. Senate on Thursday confirmed Dr. Edward Simmer as DHEC director. The agency’s board selected Simmer in December after a nationwide search to replace Rick Toomey, who resigned in May 2020.

“We are grateful to the Senate for confirming Dr. Simmer to the helm of South Carolina’s public health and environmental agency during the state’s unprecedented COVID-19 response,” Mark Elam, chair of the S.C. Board of Health and Environmental Control, said in a news release. “Dr. Simmer brings with him a wealth of executive management and in-the-field medical experience through his more than 30-year naval career.”

Simmer, selected from a pool of 83 applicants, was most recently the CEO of TRICARE Health Plan and previously served as the CEO and commanding officer at the Naval Health Clinic in Oak Harbor, Wash. He retired from the Navy on Dec. 31.

Simmer, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, received his medical degree from Saint Louis University and holds a master’s in public health with a focus in epidemiology from Eastern Virginia Medical School. He is board-certified in general and forensic psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and has an administrative psychiatry certification from the America Psychiatric Association. He was also COO of the Naval Hospital in Beaufort from October 2010 until May 2012.

“It is an honor to be called on to serve the state that I proudly call home during this unparalleled moment in the history of our state and nation,” Simmer said. “DHEC’s mission to protect and promote the health of the public and the environment on behalf of all South Carolinians is something I take very seriously. From the frontlines to our living rooms, COVID-19 has challenged us all. We have made sacrifices and lost loved ones. However, together, with agency staff and our many partners, I am confident that we will get through this and come back stronger than before. I look forward to serving alongside DHEC’s incredible team of employees and am looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and getting to work.”