A new appointee has been named to fill the position of Mississippi State Health Officer in preparation for Dr. Thomas Dobbs’ resignation in the coming months.
On Wednesday, the Mississippi State Board of Health announced the current Deputy State Health Officer Dr. Daniel Edney will be taking the new role starting August 1.
At the beginning of March, Dobbs stated that he will be officially stepping down at the end of July, saying that he intends to return to the clinical side of medicine.
“I feel like the time is right for me to return to the clinical side of medicine, particularly the communicable disease treatment of patients,” Dobbs said. “I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at MSDH, particularly working with this dedicated health staff and advancing the field of health equity in Mississippi.”
Dobbs has held several positions in the Mississippi State Department of Health since 2008 and worked relentlessly as Mississippi’s top medical expert throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, Edney will be taking his place. According to Dobbs, Edney has been a tremendous asset since he joined the health department, especially during the pandemic.
“Among his various contributions, Dr. Edney worked with various organizations and partnerships to explain COVID and answer questions. He has also worked with providers to sign them up to give COVID vaccine, and he fielded questions from providers about allergies and other complications related to the administration of the vaccine,” Dobbs explained.
Edney, a summa cum laude graduate of both William Carey University and the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, is a board-certified General Internist with subspecialty board certification in Addiction Medicine.
He has practiced general primary care internal medicine in Vicksburg since 1991 and currently serves as an addiction medicine specialist for various inpatient residential facilities and outpatient programs in the state.
