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Williams steps down as Missouri health director

Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Director, Dr. Randall Williams, has resigned from his position. In the same day, the governor’s office named Deputy Chief of Staff Robert Knodell as acting director, effective immediately. Williams was asked to resign by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson.

Missouri’s health director resigned Tuesday amid the state’s coronavirus vaccine rollout, Republican Gov. Mike Parson announced.

Image courtesy of Missouri Office of the Governor.

Department of Health and Senior Services Director Dr. Randall Williams was appointed to the job in 2017 by Parson’s predecessor, former GOP Gov. Eric Greitens.

Greitens resigned in 2018 amid multiple scandals and in the face of impeachment. His departure elevated Parson, then the state’s lieutenant governor, to governor’s mansion.

Parson said he’s naming his deputy chief of staff, Robert Knodell, to be the state’s acting health director.

Parson said Knodell has also been leading the state’s COVID-19 response. But Knodell doesn’t have a medical background as Williams does.