Rhode Island is losing a smart and effective public official next month when Dr. David R. Gifford resigns from his position as the director of the Department of Health. In an exit interview with PBN, Dr. Gifford emphasized that the state must maintain its focus on improving health care delivery while reining in runaway costs.
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Dr. Gifford has indeed been a dedicated and distinguished DOH Director. It is unfortunate he was appointed and served in an administration that showed little appreciation for the important and often difficult services his department provides to the community. Dr. Gifford endured draconian cuts to his department’s budget, but no relief from legislative mandates on their duties. One could imagine how frustrating the inability to fulfill the legal and often critically important public health mandates of the department’s mission must have been to a professional of his stature. We should all be deeply disappointed, but not surprised by his departure. The goals of small government are only worthy when they consider carefully what it is that agencies like the DOH will NOT be doing. Simply “starving the beast” as has been done at DOH can result in catastrophic and unforseen consequences. I suspect Dr. Gifford, who had a stellar record of achievement of which he could be very proud, didn’t want to be around to see that happen.