Guantanamo, Iraq and COVID 19. Can military doctor save South Carolina from virus? Sammy Fretwell, The State (Columbia, S.C.)
Jan. 31 In three decades of public service as a Navy doctor, Edward Simmer has counseled sailors and soldiers shell-shocked by the trauma of war.
He s faced angry military retirees, upset about changes in health care. And he s testified before Congress about helping military families with special needs children.
Now, Simmer is seeking to take charge of South Carolina s embattled health department during a disease crisis that is killing thousands of people.
But not everybody is sure why he wants the job. He s a 56-year-old career military man who was recommended for a job with a high burnout rate at a time when the state Legislature is discussing whether to break up the Department of Health and Environmental Control.