(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The state’s new Health Director made his official debut at a news conference with Governor Pritzker Thursday and talked about the challenges he’ll face.
Governor Pritzker introduced Dr. Sameer Vohra as Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health as he announced higher Medicaid reimbursements for abortion services.
Vohra said Illinois has always been his home. He was born in in Chicago and raised in the suburbs. His parents are immigrants who are Muslims from India and he said he has lived around the state.
Vohra said he knows the health challenges facing rural areas as well as urban and he acknowledged that these are challenging times-answering questions about monkey pox vaccines and COVID precautions in schools and more.
"For me, the role and responsibility of public health starts with one overarching and all encompassing goal- to prevent and protect the public from disease and injury yet we are living in a moment where it is just hard to feel protected."
Vohra succeeds Dr. Ngozi Ezike and Interim Director Dr. Amaal Tokars and hopes to build on their work.
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