On January 2, 2023, Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) Secretary-designee Karen Timberlake resigned her position.  She was appointed to this position after the 2021 resignation of then-DHS Secretary-designee Andrea Palm, who resigned her position to join the Biden Administration in Washington, DC.  Karen Timberlake also served as the DHS Deputy Secretary and Secretary under former Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle’s (D) administration in the mid-to-late 2000s. 

Governor Evers has publicly stated that he will announce a new DHS Secretary-designee in the coming weeks.  As such, DHS Deputy Secretary Deb Standridge is the most senior official at this state agency at this time.  Once the Governor announces a new DHS Secretary-designee, we will share that in a future newsletter.