HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Dr. Val Arkoosh, an anesthesiologist who led Pennsylvania’s third-most populous county through the pandemic before mounting a failed run for U.S. Senate, will be nominated to lead the sprawling Department of Human Services under the incoming Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro.

Wednesday’s announcement by Shapiro also included his picks to lead the departments of Health, Drug and Alcohol Programs, Aging and Insurance.

Arkoosh, 62, is a former chair of anesthesiology at Drexel University College of Medicine who now chairs the three-member board of commissioners in Montgomery County, in suburban Philadelphia.

Shapiro, the state’s two-term elected attorney general, will be inaugurated Tuesday to become the 48th governor of Pennsylvania. On Montgomery County’s board, Arkoosh overlapped with Shapiro for two years before he was elected to attorney general. During the pandemic, Arkoosh held daily, livestreamed briefings about the county’s efforts to stem the spread of COVID-19, as it became the first county where Gov. Tom Wolf ordered the shutdown of schools and businesses.

https://apnews.com/article/josh-shapiro-politics-health-pennsylvania-state-government-be7f9db7e49ef7323cce4afc0008b387