Appelbaum: Nickelson appointment offers hope of ‘stability’ at DHSS

Questions new acting chair’s role in COVID-19 response

Rep. LaDonna Appelbaum (MHDC)

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Ranking Minority Member of the Missouri House Health and Mental Health Committee LaDonna Appelbaum, D-St. Louis, released the following statement on Gov. Mike Parson’s appointment of Paula Nickelson to acting director of the Department of Health and Social Services:

“Acting Director Nickelson appears to be eminently qualified to lead DHSS, but I have pertinent questions about her role in our state’s botched COVID response — specifically in our state’s myriad contract staffing issues for hospitals and problems with antigen testing at the outset. I look forward to speaking with her soon to understand her thought process during and approach to these challenges and how she plans to lead the department in the future should she be successful in her confirmation.

“That said, Missouri needs stability at the head of DHSS as we continue to deal with the worst public health crisis of the 21st century. We had an eminently qualified individual effectively run out of town by vitriol and rhetoric. I hope the same does not happen to Acting Director Nickelson.”