West Virginia Loses DHHR Chief to Illness - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

West Virginia Loses DHHR Chief to Illness

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West Virginia is losing its Department of Health and Human Resources chief because of an illness.

Secretary Michael Lewis is recovering from recent surgery for an undisclosed medical condition.

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin on Tuesday said that Lewis will resign June 30.

Dr. Lewis was Tomblin's first appointee to his Cabinet, in November 2010.

The veteran physician was the Higher Education Policy Commission's vice chancellor for health services when he left the state in 2002 to take a similar position at East Carolina University.

He had previously been a longtime vice president at West Virginia University and dean of its Charleston medical campus.

Lewis' Cabinet department oversees 21.6 percent of all state and federal spending in West Virginia.

Its agencies and programs are responsible for everything from flu prevention to administering Medicaid benefits.