Dr. Michael Fine appointed interim head of R.I. Department of Health

PROVIDENCE – The director of Medical Services for the R.I. Department of Corrections will serve as the interim director of the R.I. Department of Health, Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee’s office announced Thursday.
Dr. Michael Fine takes the place of Dr. David R. Gifford, whose resignation takes effect Friday. Fine will serve until a successor is named to permanently fill the position.
At the corrections department, Fine supervised about 100 employees that cared for 10,000 to 20,000 people annually and 3,700 people at any given time. He took the reins of the $23 million department last year.
At the Department of Health, Fine will oversee a roughly $115 million budget that comes largely from the federal government but faces reductions as the state struggles with a tight budget.
Fine, a former primary care physician, takes charge as the department prepares to decide whether to allow controversial allow medical marijuana dispensaries to open. He also arrives less than two weeks before Chafee is expected to unveil his first state budget.
Fine is a graduate of Haverford College and the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. He completed his residency with the Brown University Program in Family Medicine at Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island in Pawtucket.