Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced Friday he will nominate two administration staff members to replace positions held by outgoing secretary of the Department of Health, Dr. Rachel Levine.
His Secretary of Health nominee Alison Beam is an attorney and health policy administrator who has served most recently as his deputy chief of staff. She assumes the role as acting health secretary on Monday.
In her role in the Wolf administration, Beam has coordinated initiatives and resources across Pennsylvania’s departments of Health, Human Services, Drug & Alcohol Programs, Aging and Insurance, as well as the Office of Advocacy and Reform, according to a press release.
Updated: 11:24 AM EST Jan 22, 2021 By Tom Lehman How much COVID-19 vaccine does Pennsylvania have?It’s a question a lot of people are asking.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Pennsylvania has administered less than half of the 1.3 million doses it has received.But the state Department of Health just expanded the list of people eligible for the vaccine to include people over the age of 65 and people ages 16 to 64 with serious medical conditions.Pennsylvania Emergency Management Director Randy Padfield said Thursday during a virtual town hall that the big obstacle right now is how many doses the state gets from the federal government each week.“We are severely constrained by the amount of vaccine that we are receiving. So, people ask questions of why aren’t we doing certain things. Why aren t we doing mass vaccination clinics? They are in the plans in the future, but right now, the quantity of vaccine that we re receiving does not really suppor
Governor Tom Wolf nominates Alison Beam for Secretary of Health January 22, 2021
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Gov. Tom Wolf nominated Alison Beam, his current deputy chief of staff, to take over the role of Secretary of Health. PHOTO PROVIDED.
Gov. Tom Wolf nominated his deputy chief of staff, Alison Beam, to replace Dr. Rachel Levine as state Health Secretary after President Joe Biden chose Levine to be the assistant secretary of health for the federal Department of Health and Human Services.
Beam, the Wolf Administration’s deputy chief of staff since 2019, is set to assume Levine’s former role on Saturday. In an announcement Friday, Wolf called Beam a talented public servant who brings years of experience in health care policy and implementation to the office.
Gov. Wolf names replacements for departing health secretary
Published
(Office of Gov. Tom Wolf)
HARRISBURG - Gov. Tom Wolf on Friday said he would elevate two officials involved in his administration s response to the coronavirus to replace the departing Dr. Rachel Levine as his health secretary and physician general.
Wolf said he intends to nominate a deputy chief of staff, Alison Beam, to take over as secretary of the Department of Health. Wolf, meanwhile, elevated Dr. Wendy Braund, the Covid-19 response director for the department, to acting interim physician general.
Beam has coordinated programming across several agencies, including the departments of Health and Human Services, and has helped coordinate the administration’s pandemic response.
Pa. reports 193 new COVID-19 deaths, but fewer are in hospitals
Updated Jan 22, 2021;
The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported nearly 200 new deaths tied to COVID-19 Friday, but fewer people are hospitalized with the virus.
The state reported 193 new fatalities, raising the statewide total to 20,321. This week, the state passed another grim milestone in the pandemic, as more than 20,000 deaths have now been tied to the coronavirus. While it took eight months to reach 10,000 fatalities, it took less than two months to double that number.
On a more positive note, the state reported 4,169 people are being treated in hospitals for COVID-19, as the number of hospitalizations continues its decline in recent weeks. The number of people being treated for COVID-19 peaked at more than 6,300 in December. The health department reports 822 people are being treated in intensive care units.