BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - Gov. Doug Burgum said Thursday that North Dakota’s newly appointed top health officer resigned due to family, financial and career considerations, not because of any disagreements with the administration over the state’s worsening coronavirus pandemic.
Burgum on Wednesday announced Dr. Andrew Stahl would be stepping down at the end of the month to join a private practice in Bismarck. Stahl took over as interim health officer in late May for Mylynn Tufte, who resigned without explanation.
The resignation comes as the number of active and newly confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state hit a new high, led by the Bismarck metropolitan area.
Burgum said Stahl’s resignation had nothing to do with the doctor’s desire to increase the state’s color-coded risk level from green, or low risk, to yellow, or moderate risk, for COVID-19 hotspots in the state.
In an interview with The Associated Press Thursday, Burgum reiterated what he called “a different point of view” when it came to Stahl’s preference to increase the risk level for hotspots in the state.
’We’ve been trying to keep the whole state together, versus county by county,” Burgum said, though he did not rule out giving counties different risk designations in the future.
A spokeswoman for the North Dakota Health Department said Stahl would not comment beyond what he wrote in his resignation letter, which was provided to the AP Thursday.
In it, Stahl thanked Burgum for the opportunity to serve as health officer and expressed his desire to return to “clinical practice” and maintain military medical credentials. Stahl, an officer in the North Dakota Army National Guard’s Medical Corps since 2009, served on the Guard’s COVID-19 task force before joining Burgum’s administration.
In the letter, Stahl said he had agreed to four months on the job and that his resignation would be effective Oct. 1. The letter was submitted to Burgum on Monday and later amended by Stahl that day to change the effective date of the resignation to Aug. 31.
Burgum said he had discussions with Stahl over the demands of the job, including time away from his family and salary. Stahl was hired for what would have been an annual salary of $261,000.
Tufte, who was not a doctor, was paid $172,400 annually.
Burgum said Stahl, 38, has a 20-month-old child and medical school debt. Stahl’s wife also is a physician, the governor said.
The state Department of Health on Thursday reported a record 274 new COVID-19 infections, a 36% increase from the previous high set last week. The new cases included 50 in Burleigh County and 14 in Morton County, which have taken over as the state’s hot spot for the virus in recent weeks.
Active cases Thursday rose to 1,394, up nearly 200 from the previous high set Sunday.
The number of COVID-19 deaths in the state remained at 130 on Thursday.
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