PA Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam Leaving Job

HARRISBURG, PA —Acting Pennsylvania Health Secretary Alison Beam is leaving her job at the end of the month, Gov. Tom Wolf's office announced Monday. Keara Klinepeter, currently the health department's executive deputy secretary, will become acting secretary in January.

The announcement of Beam's departure comes after the state Supreme Court last week struck down the controversial school mask mandate she issued in August.

Beam was appointed after former health secretary Dr. Rachel Levine left for a job in President Joe Biden's administration in January.

“I am proud to have worked with Acting Secretary Beam over the past several years, and the commonwealth has been fortunate to have had the benefit of her leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic – especially as the Department of Health oversaw a massive vaccine roll-out over the
course of the past year,” Wolf said in a news release.

Beam's future plans were not announced.

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This article originally appeared on the Pittsburgh Patch