Abbott Selects Longtime Aide To Lead Texas Health Commission
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AUSTIN (AP) - Gov. Greg Abbott has selected one of his longtime aides to take over the state's massive health agency.
Abbott announced Tuesday that Charles Smith will be the next executive commissioner of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Smith was a top deputy under Abbott in the attorney general's office before Abbott became governor in 2015.
Smith will try stabilizing a 60,000-person commission beset in recent years by a contracting scandal and a federal judge ordering an overhaul to the state's embattled foster care system.
Abbott has already picked two health commissioners in only 16 months in office. He first selected Chris Traylor last year in the wake of a $110 million no-bid contracting scandal that led to the resignation of top officials.
Traylor is retiring. Smith will start in June.
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