President Donald Trump recently named former U.S. Deputy Surgeon General Dr. Erica Schwartz as his nominee to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – a position Mississippi’s top doctor was on the shortlist for before withdrawing.
State Health Officer Dr. Dan Edney opened up Tuesday on why he decided against further pursuing the federal nomination after months of interviews, saying lots of prayer and reflection went into the decision.
“Getting a call from the White House staff out of the blue – this is not something I applied for – asking if I’d be willing to interview, how do you say no to that?” Edney said on MidDays with Gerard Gibert. “But the Lord made it pretty clear after the interviews that I’m right where he has me to be doing what he has me to do.”
Throughout the roughly three-month interview process, which ended with his withdrawal earlier this month, Edney said he received a lot of positive comments from the people of his home state. But those same positive comments were a sign to stay on as health officer, he said.
“One of the things that made it abundantly clear that I need to be doing what I’m doing was the response I had here at home,” Edney said. “The number of people who were really excited for me that I was even being considered kept saying, ‘We’re so proud of you. We support you and hope you get it, but we don’t want you to leave.’ That meant a lot to me.”
Edney said being considered for one of the top medical jobs in the U.S. was not only an honor for him personally but also a reflection of the progress being made in Mississippi.
Since taking over as state health officer in August 2022, Edney’s tenure has included Mississippi’s rise to No. 48 in America’s Health Rankings after four decades in last place. Under his leadership, the state has seen decreases in opioid-related deaths, teen births, accidental deaths, and HIV rates.
“This was a recognition of my team at the State Department of Health and their great work,” he said. “It’s really a recognition of all the things that are getting national attention across the board.”
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Edney’s hope is that attention will only grow with his name being up for CDC director. To him, the entire interview process was “worth going through the stress and the headache of it all” to make for a better relationship between Mississippi and the federal government.
“Going through the interviews was really interesting. It was something I had never done before at that level and I met some outstanding people who it’s great to have relationships with now in my current post,” he said. “To be able to reach out to someone at the White House pretty quickly is something I couldn’t have done three months ago.”
Edney also hopes to assist the federal government in other ways, including through his incoming role as president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. He is expected to begin his one-year term as president this fall.
As for Trump’s pick to fill the post at the CDC, Edney has high hopes for Schwartz, who must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate before she can take the position. Schwartz was part of the first Trump administration and, like Edney, has a history of supporting and administering vaccination programs.
“Everything I’ve heard about Dr. Schwartz is very good. She’s extremely trained, her credentials are impeccable, and she has a long history of public service,” Edney said. “So, I’m very encouraged and optimistic for the CDC moving forward.”
