McKee names new state health director. Here's who got the job
PROVIDENCE - Gov. Dan McKee has chosen Dr. Jerome Larkin – the medical director of the Inpatient Infectious Diseases Consultation Service at Rhode Island Hospital - to be the new state health director.
Subject to Senate confirmation, Larkin will take on a major state job held by a string of acting directors since the January 2022 resignation of the high-profile Nicole Alexander Scott.
“Dr. Larkin is a proven leader in the medical field and his experience will be a vital asset to our team and to the people of Rhode Island,” said McKee, in a statement. “Improving health outcomes for all Rhode Islanders is a top priority for our administration and I’m confident that Dr. Larkin will help us reach that goal.”
Step back: Dr. Larkin's experience
Larkin has more than 30 years experience in the health care field and is a licensed medical doctor in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
He is board certified in both internal medicine and pediatrics, as well as adult infectious disease.
He is a clinical assistant professor of medicine at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and has been co-director of the pediatric HIV Clinic at Hasbro Children’s Hospital, according to his online biography.
He has also authored multiple publications and book chapters, including articles on ticks, tick-related illnesses and Lyme disease in children and pregnant women.
More: It's raise time for McKee's Cabinet. Here's who is in line to get a pay bump and how much.
According to his biography: Larkin received his medical degree from the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and completed his undergraduate degree at Boston College.
A Google search also turns up articles he also wrote or co-authored on "Health Screening of Newly Resettled Refugees in a Primary Care Setting," In 2020, he was also one of the researchers who studied and found no clear clinical evidence that hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug, was of benefit to hospitalized patients with COVID-19.
Behind-the-scenes: State health director a revolving door
The title interim state director of health has been held most recently by Dr. Staci Fischer – the former director of Transplant Infectious Diseases and Graduate Medical Education at Rhode Island Hospital. Fischer reportedly did not seek the permanent appointment.
Fischer took the position days before the March 29 retirement of Utpala Bandy, the last in a series of interim directors since the last permanent director, Nicole Alexander-Scott, and her deputy, Thomas McCarthy, resigned in January 2022.
At the time, Fischer was the $207,136-a-year chief administrative officer of the Rhode Island Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline.
She was earning more than the $175,000 base salary for the health director's job. But in recent weeks, McKee has pushed to raise the base pay for the health director's job up to $250,000 a year, and the legislature did not object.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Dr. Jerome Larkin is McKee's pick for RI's new state health director
