April 22 (UPI) — U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy was asked to resign Friday and was replaced by Rear Adm. Sylvia Trent-Adams, one of the first nurses to serve in the role.
Murthy was confirmed under the Obama administration in Dec. 2014. He was dismissed by President Donald Trump’s administration.
“Today, Dr. Murthy, the leader of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, was asked to resign from his duties as Surgeon General after assisting in a smooth transition into the new Trump Administration,” the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement.
He will continue to serve as a member of the Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service, while Trent-Adams will become the new surgeon general.
“Rear Admiral Sylvia Trent-Adams, who is the current deputy surgeon general, will serve as the acting surgeon general and assume leadership of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps,” the department said.
Trent-Adams has served in the Public Health Service Corps for more than 24 years. She also was chief nurse officer for the agency, the deputy associate administrator for the HIV/AIDS bureau at the Department of Health and Human Services and nurse officer in the Army.
By Friday evening she had replaced Murthy on the surgeon general’s Twitter account and her portrait replaced Murth’s on the surgeon general’s Facebook page.
