PROVIDENCE – Less than six months after the former longtime leader of the state agency resigned, the interim director of the R.I. Department of Health announced that he too is stepping down from his role heading the organization.
Gov. Daniel J. McKee said on Thursday afternoon that Dr. James McDonald is leaving his job as the interim director at the R.I. Department of Health on July 29.
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McDonald wrote in a May 30 resignation letter addressed to McKee, which was released by the governor’s office, stating that “family circumstances require” him to move out of Rhode Island, including his mother’s struggle with Alzheimer’s disease and his son’s challenges living with autism.
“My family life has changed significantly since we spoke about me being Interim Director in January of 2022,” McDonald wrote in his letter to the governor. “These changes have compelled me to spend substantial time in thought, prayer and painful deliberation.”
McDonald took over leading RIDOH on Jan. 27, replacing Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, who left the role earlier that month after she was first appointed to the position in 2015 by former Gov. Gina M. Raimondo, with McKee “regretfully” accepting her resignation after she led the state’s public health response throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Alexander-Scott’s resignation also preceded the departure of RIDOH’s deputy director, Thomas J. McCarthy, which left another gap in department leadership when he left in early February.
McKee said he’s now working to identify a successor to McDonald, who became known to many Rhode Islanders during the pandemic for his visual demonstrations about the contagiousness of the coronavirus, shaking up a jar of jelly beans and spilling them around in a viral video to make his point.
“Rhode Islanders have come to know, love and trust Dr. McDonald for his easy-to-understand explanations and simple tips,” McKee said. “Dr. McDonald has provided steady leadership to our state and great counsel to me as we continued our work to manage COVID-19 … Thanks to Dr. McDonald and his team, we know we have the tools to keep ourselves and our families safe. I thank Dr. McDonald for stepping up and taking on this interim position. We will be keeping his family in our thoughts.”
McDonald, who has lived in North Kingstown with his wife and three children, was previously medical director for RIDOH since 2012, with a career that includes an officership in the U.S. Navy and a pediatric residency in the military service.
McDonald called it a “difficult decision” to leave his position at RIDOH.
“It has been an honor and a pleasure to serve in this capacity; however, at this time, I need to put the needs of my family first,” McDonald said in a public statement provided by the governor’s office. “I will always have wonderful and warm memories of my time spent here in this great state. I want to thank my colleagues at RIDOH for all the wonderful work they have done and for the important work I know they will continue to do.”
McDonald also looked back proudly on his work to fight the battle against opioid addiction in the state, tasked earlier in his career by former RIDOH director Dr. Michael Fine with working on the devastating public health problem, before promulgating regulations regarding painkiller prescriptions in 2015, and later being tasked by Alexander-Scott asked to chair the group to create and promulgate regulations for harm reduction centers meant to keep addicts safe when using potentially deadly drugs.
“Unexpectedly to me, as this unfolded, I acquired more and more expertise and subsequently became one of the state’s experts in successful litigation against opioid manufacturers, wholesalers, and distributors, recovering over $280 million for Rhode Islanders,” McDonald said. “Over 10 years, this would be enough to satisfy anyone’s career, yet I have been honored to be involved with so much more, including starting our Prescription Drug Monitoring Program.”
And this all preceded the COVID-19 pandemic, McDonald said, which put the public health expert into the spotlight at times.
“It has been an honor to get to know the people of Rhode Island over the course of the last two and a half years,” McDonald said. “The pandemic changed my life significantly, not just personally, but professionally. I never expected to be the voice of the Department, and I am glad my honest, straightforward way of communicating helped Rhode Islanders during many moments of great uncertainty and unease. Throughout the pandemic I have experienced the best of Rhode Island. I have met so many warm welcoming people who have become stronger as we have emerged from this common threat to our health and well-being.”
Larocque@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter @LaRockPBN.
