NASHVILLE – Republican Gov. Bill Haslam on Friday named John Dreyzehner to head the state Health Department, replacing interim Commissioner Susan Cooper.
Dreyzehner, 48, is the director of the Cumberland Plateau Health District in Southwest Virginia and a former Air Force flight surgeon. He is also an adjunct professor at the East Tennessee State University College of Public Health.
“He brings a wealth of experience to the position from his service in the Air Force to his work as a public health official in Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee,” Haslam said in a release.
Dreyzehner will earn $170,000 in the position, up 11 percent from Cooper’s salary of $153,540.
The appointment quickly was criticized by Tennessee Right to Life because of Dreyzehner’s appearance on a panel this year at a conference of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, which advocates for access to and coverage for abortions.