Landry moves Ralph Abraham from health secretary to first-ever surgeon general position

Gov.-elect Jeff Landry has chosen former Republican Congressman Dr. Ralph Abraham as secretary for the Louisiana Department of Health. (Julie O'Donoghue/LAI)

Gov. Jeff Landry announced former Congressman Dr. Ralph Abraham will be Louisiana’s first-ever surgeon general after serving as the Louisiana Department of Health secretary for six months.

“This is going to help us improve the outcome of health care in the state of Louisiana,” Landry said at a news conference Tuesday to announce the move.

Abraham and newly appointed Secretary Michael Harrington are now expected to run the state health department as co-leaders, though Landry described Harrington as the “CEO” of the agency.

Harrington was previously the undersecretary at the department who reported to Abraham and oversaw the state’s health care funding. Health care spending makes up nearly half of Louisiana’s annual state budget each year.

Kevin Littlen, a spokesperson for the health department, could not say Tuesday whether salaries for Abraham, Harrington or any other member of the health department had changed as a result of the new surgeon general position.

As health secretary, Harrington’s pay for the state budget cycle that starts July 1 is $260,000, according to legislative budget documents, but it’s unclear what Abraham, as surgeon general, will be paid. In total, the new surgeon general’s office has been allocated $481,700 to spend over the next year, but the health department has not said whether that money will cover Abraham’s salary.

At the urging of Landry, Louisiana lawmakers created the new surgeon general position when they passed House Bill 853, sponsored by Rep. Brach Myers, R-Lafayette. Myers said several others states, including Arkansas, Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas and California, have recently created surgeon general offices in their state governments as well.

Landry and Abraham had planned to create the surgeon general job even before the governor took office in early January, Landry said.

The surgeon general, who must be a medical doctor under the new law, is expected to lead public health efforts and set medical guidelines, leaving many of the financial and administrative responsibilities of Louisiana’s largest state agency to the health secretary. 

“From day one, our priority has always been to have a doctor overseeing health policies of the state of Louisiana,” Landry said.

The governor said Abraham, as surgeon general, “won’t be tethered” to the health department either. He is expected to work with the state’s medical schools, nursing programs and medical boards.

“Whatever we can do that makes it easier for that patient, we want to do that,” Abraham said.

It’s not clear if all the duties of each position have been worked out yet. When asked who would win out in an argument between the surgeon general and health secretary over how to run the department, Landry replied that he, as the governor, would be the one ultimately responsible for the department’s operations. 

It appears Abraham will continue to be the face of the health department, however. When asked who should be held responsible for the agency’s response to another pandemic or a botched evacuation of nursing home residents during a hurricane, Abraham said he is the person who should be held responsible. 

“Now, we will be able to have somebody speaking with one voice who is a doctor. Because we didn’t always have a doctor in as the secretary,” Landry said. “The secretary’s position is pretty demanding from an administrative standpoint.”

Louisiana most recently had a physician as state health secretary from 2016 to 2020, when Dr. Rebekah Gee led the department for most of Gov. John Bel Edwards’ first term.

Before being elected to Congress in 2015, Abraham worked for years as a primary care doctor in rural Northeast Louisiana and was a veterinarian prior to that. He chose not to run again for his U.S. House seat in 2020 after an unsuccessful bid for governor, finishing behind Edwards, a Democrat, and Republican Eddie Rispone in the primary election. 

Harrington has worked as the chief executive officer and chief operating officer for several nonprofit and for-profit health systems. 

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